Goydos Wins Sony to End 11-Year Drought

Monday, January 15th 2007, 6:23 am

By: News On 6

HONOLULU (AP) _ Paul Goydos had gone 11 years and 256 tournaments since his last victory, so long ago that some players were using wooden clubs, Greg Norman was No. 1 in the world and Tiger Woods was still an amateur.

He rediscovered Sunday at the Sony Open that winning doesn't change.

``You do have to get some good things happen in order to win,'' Goydos said. ``And today, I definitely had some good things happen. Not only did I play pretty well, but the last few holes, the breaks went my way.''

Goydos made three birdies in the final four holes and closed with a 3-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Charles Howell III and Luke Donald that essentially came down to eagle chips for all three of them on par-5 18th green.

Goydos' shot banged into the pin and stopped a foot away for a tap-in birdie.

Playing in the final group behind Goydos, Donald's pitch to force a playoff hit the pin and spun out, while Howell's chip slid by the cup and rolled 15 feet by. He misread the birdie putt and had to settle for second place again.

``I never felt like I was going to win,'' said Goydos, who finished at 14-under 266. ``I'm still stunned.''

So was Howell, who had control of his tournament after making an eagle on the par-5 ninth and took a two-shot lead to the back nine. But he made back-to-back bogeys with a bad drive on No. 12 and a pedestrian chip on the 13th, then had to scramble for pars until the last one wasn't good enough. He closed with a 70.

``This one hurts,'' said Howell, a runner-up for the seventh time since his lone PGA Tour victory in 2002.

Donald shot 69, his only consolation that he has started the season with consecutive top 10s.

Tadd Fujikawa, the 16-year-old who became the youngest player in 50 years to make a cut on the PGA Tour, finished his dream week with a birdie on the final hole for a 72, putting him in a tie for 20th.

``I hit a couple of bad shots here and there, but it's been fun,'' he said. ``I did my best and no regrets.''

Goydos might not have been in Oahu this week except for the final full tournament of 2006. He was headed for Q-school when he put together his best four rounds of the year and tied for second in the Chrysler Championship, earning enough money to finish 97th on the money list and keep his card.

He didn't waste any time with the new year.

``I set some goals, and one of them was to win every decade,'' Goydos deadpanned.

This one looked in doubt until he rolled in a 25-foot birdie on the 15th hole to catch Howell, and a 15-footer on the next hole to take the lead. Goydos made bogey from the bunker on the 17th, and the man they call ``Sunshine'' _ a sarcastic reference to his dour demeanor _ finally found reason to smile on the closing hole.

``That chip could have gone where Charles' did,'' Goydos said. ``Fortunately for me, it stopped close enough where I could make it.''

For the longest time, it looked as though this would be a two-man race.

Howell and Donald didn't do anything special over the first five holes, but it was enough to separate them from the pack. A combination of the steady trade wind and Sunday pin placements made it tough for anyone to make a charge, and most went backward.

Fujikawa was the first to go.

It must have been hard for the kid to ignore the magnitude of what he had done all week at Waialae. Leaving the putting green, he walked 80 yards up the fairway toward the first tee, the crowd six deep and cheering his every step. Waiting for him was Jim Furyk, a former U.S. Open champion and No. 2 player in the world.

``You're having some fun this week,'' Furyk told him with a big smile.

Fujikawa opened with two pars, but then chunked his iron into the water and took double bogey on No. 3, then lost another shot when he hit into a bunker on the par-3 fourth. Just like that, he was nine shots behind. He revved up the crowd with a 25-foot par save on the sixth and back-to-back birdies around the turn, and the gallery stayed with him the whole way.

Howell hit his best two shots of the front nine _ a tee shot that rolled 321 yards, followed by a 7-iron that landed softly some 12 feet from the cup. He made it for eagle and took a two-shot lead to the back nine. Then, when Howell saved par with an 7-foot putt on the 11th, he appeared to be in control.

But his tee shots had been spotty, and they started to hurt him. Howell pulled his drive on the 12th, hit a tree trying on his second shot and had to hit a nifty shot to 15 feet to escape with bogey. He found the left rough on his next shot and took bogey, then steadied himself from the left trees on 14th, going around them to 45 feet for a two-putt par.

By then, the game was on with a new opponent.

And when it was over, it was a familiar result for Howell.