2008 Sony Open Recap: Seperating the Men from the Boys

The 2008 Sony Open, from Honolulu, offered a perfect display of just how valuable the experience gained from winning a major championship can be.

The final round of the Sony Open began with a logjam at the top of the leaderboard which included players such as Zack Johnson, David Toms, Brian Gay, Nathan Green, Tadd Fujiyama and Charles Howell III, all of whom having a legitimate chance to win the event.

However, as the day wore on in paradise it became clear that two former major champions, Zach Johnson and David Toms, were the only ones with the experience and know-how needed to close out a tournament.

Hometown favorite, 18-year-old Tadd Fujikawa, who gained entrance to the event through a Monday qualifier, simply did not have his A-Game on Sunday and quickly fell off the leaderboard en-route to a final round score of 73.

Brian Gay and Nathan Green also slowly but surely fell down the leaderboard.

Adam Scott made a decent run but missed a five-foot birdie putt on the 17th that would have given him a share of the lead and then left a long eagle putt on the 18th well short, which as we all know, is a definite no-no when that putt could have given you a share of the lead heading into the clubhouse.

Charles Howell III, a highly touted player out of golf powerhouse Oklahoma State a few years back who Jack Nicklaus once called the game’s best chance at a legitimate competitor to Tiger Woods, made a run with birdies on the 17th and 18th but pulled his second shot on the par-5 18th into the bleachers resulting in a bogey six.

That left the tournament wide open for two former major champions.

Zach Johnson and David Toms played steady, intelligent golf for most of the afternoon displaying a level of experience that was head and shoulder above the rest.   

Johnson carried a one stroke lead to the par-3 17th where Toms short-sided himself with his tee shot into a deep bunker on the right-side of the green. 

Toms blasted his shot out of the bunker to around six feet from the hole; a very similar putt to the one Adam Scott had missed for a share of the lead about a half hour earlier.

As would be expected on Sunday afternoon from a former PGA Championship winner, Toms confidently rolled his putt into the hole to remain just on stroke behind Johnson heading to the 72nd hole.

On the Par-5 18th, Toms made his first poor decision of the day by trying to cut a corner with his drive on the dogleg left; a decision that demanded a carry of around 270 yards which was severely testing the limits of anything Toms had in his bag.

Toms carried the tall palm trees strategically places on the left side of the fairway to guard corner but didn’t have enough distance to carry the bunker before reaching his desired target in the fairway. 

Toms decision to cut try and cut the corner on the 18th could be viewed as a poor decision, however, Toms was in a position where he knew that he would likely need to make eagle on this short par-5 to tie Johnson for the lead and he went for broke.

Johnson striped his tee shot on the 18th right down the middle of the fairway, hit a five-wood onto the green and calmly two-putted for the win. 

Johnson’s caddie did his now famous chicken dance upon Johnson’s final putt rolling into the hole and Johnson walked away with a mere $972,000, a smaller first place prize than most PGA Tour events, but not to shabby for four days of walking a golf course in paradise.

Zack Johnson had by all accounts a poor 2008 season.

However, Johnson found something in his game towards the end of the season and managed to walk away with a win the Valero Texas Open.

With the off-season in golf getting shorter by the year, we have seen several players in recent years use late season success as a springboard for fast start the following year and Johnson, who won the 2007 Masters, appears to have done just that. 

With the Maters just around the corner, Johnson would have to be considered a legitimate contender at Augusta National; a course that Johnson tactically brought to its knees just two years ago.