After both parred the first playoff hole – the 18th – they returned to the 18th tee for the second hole of the decider.
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His 62 was the lowest closing round by a Sony Open champion.
The 37-year-old closed with two birdies for an eight-under round of 62 and then got the better of American Brandt Snedeker in the sudden-death climax.
Fabian Gomez, of Argentina, waves to the gallery on the 17th green during the third round of the Sony Open golf tournament, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Honolulu.
Money didn’t come easily.
Gomez was delighted with the emotional win.
Like several of the great Argentine players, Gomez had started his golfing journey as a caddie in his homeland before embarking on a professional career in 2002.
Kevin Kisner birdied his last hole for a 66 and was one shot behind.
Gomez hit a wonderful second shot from the fairway and just made it to the green for a long eagle putt.
Snedeker is a seven-time victor on the PGA Tour who has been atop the leaderboard after each round. In all, he made 17 birdies on the weekend to nose ahead of Snedeker, who shot nothing worse than 66 in four rounds on defenseless Waialae Country Club, which played fast, true and calm. “And it makes me feel good and feel like I could win the tournament”.
Although he didn’t win, Brandt Snedeker can take some satisfaction from the fact that he didn’t have his top weapon working and still made it to a playoff. I got on a streak with seven putts in a row.
“When I hit those two bogeys, it hurt my momentum and I was feeling a bit nervous”.
Family is everything in Resistencia, especially in the golf world. Campra’s father died a year ago while he was in Shanghai, and he stayed on with Grillo through the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. He went to the Australian PGA Championship and opened with an 84. He also is exempt into the final stage of qualifying for the U.S. Open and British Open.
Gomez won for the second time on the PGA Tour, and this one was much tougher.
He said: “I’m really, really happy”. “I feel like I played – I got about as little out of my round as I possibly could have for a couple of days, as good as I played”.
Zac Blair finished a stroke back after a 67.
It was more like frustration for Snedeker.
Blair saved par from 8 feet on the 16th hole to keep alive his chance, and he nearly cashed in with what he called the best 3-wood of his life from 280 yards. He said leaving his 12-foot putt to win on the first playoff hole “is going to sting today and tomorrow”. That’s just over $1 million for two weeks in Hawaii, and optimism about the rest of the year.
The unheralded Blair, still seeking his first win on the USA circuit, fired a bogey-free 64 to end the day level with Snedeker, though he squandered a golden opportunity to birdie the last when he missed a putt from just three feet.
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He then pulled within a stroke of Gomez with a birdie on the par-4 12th hole with a cold-blooded putting stroke.
