AUSSIE OGILVY REPEATS 2009 HAWAII VICTORY

Late bogeys costly for Martin Laird but

he still wins $300,000 for jt 4th place


A couple of late bogeys - at the 16th and 17th - cost Martin Laird third place in the winners-only first event of the 2010 US PGA Tour season, the SBS Championship, over The Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii.
But, let's not be greedy, the Glasgow man still finished joint fourth with rounds of 67, 68, 69 and 70 for a 18-under-par total of 274 over the 7,411yd, par-73 course. Laird collected $300,000 for his effort, which can't be bad. In seasons past, he has sometimes taken a good few tournaments to reach that figure.
Laird had birdies at the third, fifth, ninth, 10th, 15th and 18th, bogeys at the first, 16th and 17th. The 6ft 2in, long-hitting Scot, who breaks into the World Pro Rankings top 100 at No 84, finished four shots behind the repeat winner, Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
Last year Ogilvy won by six shots. On Sunday, Geoff had to come from behind, making up a two-shot deficit over the final 10 holes, to pip clubhouse leader, South African Rory Sabbatini who had signed off with a 10-under-par 63 for 271. Ogilvy shot a 67 for 270. The Australian is only the second player to score back-to-back victories in the season-opening tournament.
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PGATOUR.COM: Complete coverage of the SBS Championship
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Even though he was stunned to see Sabbatini run off five straight birdies and close with a 63, Ogilvy knew what he had to do. He wasn't playing the course, or even a player. He was playing against a number.
"If you beat Sabbo's score, you're going to win the tournament," Ogilvy said. "It's hard to make birdies when you have to make birdies. I've had that situation with a couple of holes to play, but never with nine holes to play. I'm pretty proud of the fact I did it."
Ogilvy posted his eighth consecutive round in the 60s at Kapalua and joined Stuart Appleby, a fellow Australian, as the only players to win in consecutive years since the winners-only season opener moved to Kapalua in 1999. Appleby won three straight years. Only five other players have won back-to-back in the 58 years of this event.
"I like the golf course, I think it's fair to say," Ogilvy said.
Even though he trailed in the middle of his round, Ogilvy still had plenty of holes in front of him.
He played short of the par-4 14th, a 272-yard hole where most players were hitting driver, and pitched to 4 feet for birdie. And he took the outright lead with a 5-wood into 25 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 15th.
With so much talk about the V-shaped grooves required this year, Ogilvy said that helped him on the 14th, where it's easy to spin the ball off the front of the green and back into the fairway.
"I was happy with the smart play, and it paid off," he said.
Sabbatini, who started the final round six shots behind, ran off five straight birdies on the back nine to seize the lead. He couldn't reach the green on the 663-yard 18th in two, however, and missed a 10-foot birdie putt that ultimately cost him.
"I said to my caddie, 'We need to birdie the last two holes to have a chance,'" Sabbatini said. "The situation was you had to keep moving forward to put pressure on him. I had my opportunity, and unfortunately, it didn't pan out."
Ogilvy finished at 22-under 270 and moved back into the top 10 in the world with his seventh career US PGA Tour victory.
It was his first win since the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship last February. The trick now is for Ogilvy to keep this form throughout the year, and he hopes he can learn from mistakes a year ago when he tried too hard and practiced more than usual.
He is taking next week off before playing in Abu Dhabi, then returns home to Arizona for the birth of his third child.
U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover's bid to become the second straight wire-to-wire winner at Kapalua ended early when he hit into the hazard on consecutive holes and lost three shots. He closed with a 76 and was 14th in the 28-man field.
Matt Kuchar lingered without seriously threatening, missing several chances on the middle of the back nine as Ogilvy pulled farther ahead. He closed with a 67 and finished alone in third.
Sean O'Hair made all the right moves to give himself a chance. He was at 20 under, two shots out of the lead with a chance to reach the par-5 18th in two. He was quick with his swing and pulled it into the weeds, leading to double bogey and a 68 to finish fourth.
The Kona wind returned again, which makes Kapalua a tough start and finish, with birdies available in between and trouble on any hole with a poor shot. Sabbatini breezed through with a 32 on the front to get in the mix,
"I was just battling the putter the first three days," Sabbatini said. "I came out today not knowing what to expect, and the flat stick showed up early."
Even so, he got some help from the leaders. Ogilvy was in the lead until he pushed his tee shot badly to the right and into the knee-high native grass for a one-shot penalty. Glover followed him into the hazard, and both made bogey. From the middle of the next fairway, Glover came out of his shot and shoved it into the high grass again, leading to double bogey. While he bounced back with two birdies, a three-putt on the 10th ended his chances.
Sabbatini, a bundle of South African energy who always looks to be in a hurry, wasted no time seizing the lead.
He attacked a dangerous pin on the par-3 11th with an 8-iron for the first of five consecutive birdies, finishing the streak by driving to the back of the green on the 282yd 14th and hitting his approach to the par-5 15th to 15ft for another easy two-putt birdie. Most impressive was a five-iron into 12 ft for one of only two birdies all day on the 552yd 17th.
That was supposed to be the hard part of his plan to birdie the last two holes. His 10ft birdie putt on the 18th caught the right lip.
In his only other chance to win at Kapalua, he missed a 3ft birdie putt on the 18th in 2002 that would have forced a play-off.
"I swear I'll make a putt one of these years on 18," he said.
For only the second time at Kapalua, everyone in the winners-only field broke par. Mark Wilson and Heath Slocum tied for last at 2-under 290. The other time was in 2003, when Rich Beem finished last at 290.
Paul Casey, battling a rib injury since July, had his first top-10 finish since the Colonial. He finished joint 10th with scores of 70, 69, 69 and 69 for 15-under-par 277.