Geoff Ogilvy sails to 6-shot win at Mercedes-Benz
Updated: January 12, 2009, 03:50
KAPALUA, Hawaii(AP) Geoff Ogilvy had never been six shots ahead in a PGA Tour event, an experience that left him searching for the right words to describe some of his emotions in the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship.
"Not angry, just frustrated,'' Ogilvy said. "Is there a difference between angry and frustrated?''
He said this with a smile late Sunday afternoon, because he had just started the 2009 season in style with a wire-to-wire victory on the Plantation course at Kapalua, where he closed with a 5-under 68 to match his worst score of the week.
Ogilvy had a lei around his neck, the keys to a new Mercedes, a seven-figure check and the fifth victory of his PGA Tour career.
It will go into the books as a six-shot victory, the same margin with which he began the final round.
But this was no walk on the beach.
Ogilvy watched a six-shot lead shrink to one over the hard-charging Anthony Kim until he pulled himself together with one great swing and one timely putt, leading to an eagle that set him on his way.
"I enjoyed the last 2 1/2 hours more than I enjoyed the first two hours,'' he said.
First came a weak drive on the opening hole that sank into the lush grass and kept Ogilvy from reaching the green. He had made only one bogey over the first 54 holes, and doubled that count in one hole Sunday.
Then came the par-3 second, where he found the bunker to the right and missed a 6-foot par putt.
Kim was making birdies in the group ahead, and the lead was down to three shots. Ogilvy appeared to steady himself with an up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 fifth, and another well-played pitch to 5 feet for birdie on the sixth.
Then he picked the wrong club on No. 7 (bogey) and hit on the wrong line at No. 8 (bogey).
"It's not a very nice feeling to feel you're frittering away your lead with weak shots and bad shots,'' he said. "There was something I was not doing on the first eight holes as I had been all week for some reason. I wouldn't say it was panic. It's just not a nice feeling. No panic or 'What am I doing?' just 'Can I go somewhere else for a while?' Because it's just uncomfortable.''
But he found his comfort zone quickly.
He hit a 2-iron off the tee at the 504-yard ninth, to the bottom of the shelf on a flat lie. After seeing Kim make birdie for a 32 on the front to cut the lead to one, Ogilvy drilled a 3-iron to 20 feet below the hole and made it for eagle.
"From then on, I was a different person,'' Ogilvy said. "I played almost the best I had all week the next six holes. It was the right time for a great shot, and I happened to make the putt, which was a big bonus.''
The next six holes were simply flawless.
Ogilvy holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 10th, the first of five holes over a six-hole stretch that restored his lead to six shots and allowed him one of the best walks in golf. The final two holes are downhill against a majestic background of the Pacific Ocean, just enough sunlight to make the island of Molokai appear so close he could swim the 10 miles.
The 31-year-old Aussie played conservatively, settling for pars to finish at 22-under 268. It was the lowest 72-hole score at Kapalua since Ernie Els set the record in 2003 at 31 under.
This performance was not much different, the scores reflecting more severe wind this week.
"If I play like this every week, I feel pretty good about it,'' Ogilvy said. "I'm realistic enough to know weeks like this don't come along very often; hopefully, more often in the future than they have in the past.''
It added to a growing reputation of winning elite events. Along with his U.S. Open title at Winged Foot in 2006, Ogilvy has a pair of World Golf Championship titles.
With so much talk about youth, Kim lived up to his part. He fell too far behind by not making enough putts on Saturday, but the charge in the final round was fun and fearless. He ran out of birdies on the back nine, then finished with a 3-wood from 288 yards that nearly went in for double eagle. He settled for a 67.
"I knew he was just teasing me for a little while there, and he was going to make some birdies,'' Kim said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't.''
Davis Love III made birdie from the rough right of the 18th green and tied Kim for second, and while it wasn't a victory, there was a small consolation in that the world ranking points should push him up some 20 spots to about No. 55, getting him closer to the magic number (50) required to get into the Masters at the end of March.
He only saw Ogilvy on the leaderboard, but it wasn't hard to figure out what happened.
"Something made him mad, I guess, somewhere coming up on the ninth fairway,'' Love said. "And then I guess he made eagle and went nuts.''
