HONOLULU (AP) — Johnson Wagner was bursting with so much excitement about his game at the start of the year that his father jokingly asked if he was on speed. It was just confidence, the most powerful drug in golf.
He worked harder than ever in the offseason and lost 20 pounds. He grew a mustache and developed thick skin from the reaction to it. And he told his friends and family that he would win early in the year and go to the Masters.
Wagner backed it all up Sunday in the Sony Open.
He played bogey-free over the last 12 holes, a winning recipe on a tough day at Waialae, and closed with a 3-under 67 for a two-shot victory that filled him with even more confidence about his game and the rest of the season.
“I was definitely telling people to expect something early this year, which is a nice feeling,” Wagner said. “Usually, my confidence is low. I’m kind of shy in a little shell. And for some reason, I just had way more energy and confidence going into this year.”
It was his third career victory on the PGA Tour, and it sends him to the Masters, along with allowing him to book another two-week working vacation in Hawaii next year.
Wagner, who finished at 13-under 267 and earned $990,000, was among six players who had at least a share of the lead at some point in the final round. He was the only guy to stay there.
Harrison Frazar took the outright lead with a birdie on No. 10, but had to settle for pars the rest of the way for a 67. Charles Howell III was paired with Wagner and stayed with him until a three-putt par on the par-5 ninth. He birdied the last hole for a 69. Sean O’Hair narrowly missed a 30-foot eagle putt on the last hole and shot 67, while Carl Pettersson overcame a double bogey on his second hole with four birdies on the last six holes for a 67.
They all tied for second.
“My first top 10 as an American,” said Pettersson, the Swede who became a U.S. citizen during the offseason.
They were all chasing Wagner, who seized control with a 9-iron into the 15th that was pin-high, just off the green. He rolled that in for birdie, and then didn’t come close to making a mistake until he nearly missed a tap-in par on the 18th.
Coming into the year, Wagner had only seven top 10s — including two wins — in 139 tournaments. He had never made it to the Tour Championship and played in only four majors.
But what a transformation. Along with his work ethic, he began jotting notes and goals into a notebook, using the green cover he received in 2008 from his lone Masters appearance.
With respect to his mustache — Frazar made a “Magnum P.I.” reference at Kapalua — the biggest change with Wagner was his attitude.
“I love being out here. There’s so many great players,” he said. “But why are they any better? Why are the people in the top 50 better than me? I’ve always struggled a little bit with believing in myself.”
As for that mustache getting so much attention?
Wagner didn’t shave during Thanksgiving and kept the mustache.
“Kind of made a deal with myself in December that if I was to get into the Masters, then I was going to keep the mustache for at least this year,” he said. “Everybody said, ‘Oh, is it a Movember mustache? Well, it’s December, time to shave it.’ I said, Look, this is not a one-month mustache. This is potentially a 10-year mustache.’
“So I think it’s going to be around for a while.”
Jeff Maggert and Matt Every, tied for the lead going into the last day, both collapsed early. Every was 4 over through six holes and rallied for a 72. Maggert missed a slew of short putts and shot 74.
Considering all the attention Every received this week — his comments about his marijuana possession arrest two years ago his awkward television interview — he said Saturday night that “I’m just ready to get it over with.”
And that he did. He was tied for the lead with Maggert, and quickly spent the day in hopeless pursuit.
Every made bogey from the bunker on the first hole, drove into the water at No. 2, three-putted for bogey at No. 4 and three-putted again from 4 feet on the sixth hole for a double bogey.
Maggert was scrambling from the start, too, and while he holed par putts of 8 and 15 feet on the opening two holes, it caught up with him.
They were still in the hunt at the turn — and so was everyone else.
PGA champion Keegan Bradley hit 8-iron into about 6 feet for eagle on the par-5 ninth, creating a five-way tie for the lead along with Maggert, Every, Frazar and Wagner.
Bradley fell back when his long bunker shot sailed 20 yards over the 10th green, turning a birdie chance into a bogey. Frazar hit his easier bunker shot on the 10th to a foot to take the outright lead, only to be joined a short time later by Wagner, who birdied the ninth. Michael Thompson joined them briefly in the lead until a bogey on the 17th.
Wagner was the only player who kept it going.
He started the back nine by driving safely into the front left bunker and holing a 10-footer for birdie to take the outright lead, and he never gave it back. No one else made enough birdies, and Wagner didn’t make any mistakes. He seized control for good on the 15th when his approach settled just on the fringe about 15 feet away for birdie and a two-shot lead.
Compton tales always involve his hearts
HONOLULU (AP) — Justin Leonard finished hitting wedges on the range Sunday morning and had moved on to irons as he worked his way through the bag before the final round of the Sony Open. Erik Compton arrived and took the spot next to him.
About 10 minutes later, Leonard was surprised to hear the sound of a shot from over his shoulder. He turned to see Compton bending to tee up another ball.
“You’re hitting driver already?” Leonard said.
Compton smiled and joked back, “I used to come out and just hit four drivers on the Nationwide Tour.”
One couldn’t help but wonder if that was yet another physical restriction for Compton, who already has had two heart transplants. Turns out it was the design of this range, which has a prevailing left-to-right wind that might lead to bad habits for the shape of his shot.
Compton, though, is used to every query involving his heart.
From the time he played in the 2001 Walker Cup, if not before, his story is well known, and no less amazing.
Because of viral cardiomyopathy as a kid, he had his first heart transplant when he was 12. He suffered a heart attack on Oct. 3, 2007, and drove himself to the hospital with his heart running at 15 percent capacity. His second heart transplant was seven months later, and five months later made the cut on the PGA Tour while playing on a sponsor’s exemption.
The highlight for Compton, at least on the golf course, came last summer when he won the Mexico Open on the Nationwide Tour, which coupled with good results earlier, assured him of finishing in the top 25 on the money list and graduating to the big leagues.
The Sony Open was his 31st start on the PGA Tour, his 20th since getting a third heart, his first as a full-fledged member. As if anyone could doubt a fighting spirit, he was headed toward a missed cut until finishing birdie-eagle to make the cut on the number.
With another cut in effect Saturday, Compton made a 10-foot birdie on the last hole that pushed him through to Sunday. It was worth another round, a small example of how the 32-year-old from Miami just keeps going.
There have been suggestions of a book, perhaps even a movie, of his life.
Hollywood would have no trouble finding the storybook ending. Going through a heart transplant to be a college success and play in the Walker Cup. Surviving a second heart transplant. Returning to play golf. Winning on the Nationwide Tour. Reaching the PGA Tour.
Where does it end?
“I don’t think my story is quite done yet,” Compton said. “I think sometimes Hollywood wants an ending, and something that’s going to see is never good enough. You have to win a PGA event, and then you have to win a major, and then you have to win a Grand Slam, and then you’ve got to be the president of the United States.
“It’s just a tough story to write, because it’s still in the process,” Compton said.
The hype over books and movies has subsided recently, which is OK with Compton. For all the trauma he has endured, despite a road to the PGA Tour unmatched by anyone in history, what appeals to him is the feel of a crisp shot, the satisfaction of making a big putt, a number on the card, a spot on the leaderboard.
“I just really want to be able to compete and be able to make a difference,” he said.
One of these days, Compton will get the same questions as most everyone else on the PGA Tour — details of the round, key shots, being in contention, coping with nerves going into the weekend with a chance.
He’s different, though, because while he wants to be a golfer and achieve as much as he can, he has a story to tell about transplants. If nothing else, Compton can inspire hope.
He has a partnership with Genetec, which uses human genetic information to develop medicine to treat serious or life-threatening conditions. Compton describes it as a “perfect fit.”
“We’re trying to promote more organ donor awareness and trying to get more people to donate organs because there’s a shortage,” he said. “By me playing and being able to share my story, I think people will realize that it really is a real thing and it affects normal people every day. So I think that’s kind of the two sides of me — the player and the transplant side to it.
“I’ve done a good job of being able to balance that when I get on the golf course,” he said. “I just feel like a regular person, and being able to play successful and good golf for me is just being healthy.”
But he is finding some normalcy in the clubhouse, on the putting green, at lunch, on the golf course.
“When I go in the locker room, they just look at me like I’m a regular player,” he said. “None of the players ever ask me, and I kind of respect that, because they understand that I’m getting that on the other end. But I kind of blend in. I’m not like a superstar that people think. I’m just a regular guy, and I look like a regular guy.”
Compton can’t think of an interview when someone didn’t mention his heart, “unless it was a reporter that didn’t have the background or didn’t have a clue.” That’s OK. He expects to get that as long as he’s playing golf, and he doesn’t mind talking about it.
Part of him looks forward to the day when he gets the same questions that Jeff Maggert received on Saturday after tying for the lead, or Brendon de Jonge on Friday after he switched back to his old putter and shot 62. Or maybe not.
“When I see some interviews, they can be boring to me,” he said. “I mean, how much can you talk about golf?”
– Doug Ferguson
International
South Africa’s Grace wins first European Tour title
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s Branden Grace won his first European Tour title Sunday with a par 72 for a one-shot victory at the Joburg Open.
Grace had a bogey and birdie on the East Course at Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Golf Club to edge Englishman Jamie Elson, finishing at 17-under 270.
The 23-year-old Grace had his three-shot, third-round lead cut to one when Elson made a 30-foot putt for eagle on No. 18 to finish with a 63. Elson had seven birdies along with his eagle, including six in his first eight holes.
But Grace, one of 27 players to complete his third round in the morning because of rain delays, held on with nine straight pars coming home for his second professional win after a 2010 victory on South Africa’s Sunshine Tour.
“I played really nicely, I hit the ball superb I think, and the putter was just cold,” Grace said. “I couldn’t get the speed of the greens. Fortunately, at the end of the day, it was enough.”
Scottish pair David Drysdale (67) and Marc Warren (68) were part of a six-way tie for third. Retief Goosen had a 73 and finished 16th, seven shots behind the leader.
Organizers were forced to play catch-up for most of the tournament after rain and darkness caused the first three rounds to be completed the next day.
– Gerald Imray
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