Mark Wilson was nearly flawless on Sunday, carding a five-under 65 in his morning round and following it up with a workmanlike three-under 67 in the afternoon to clip Tim Clark and Steve Marino by two strokes at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He did not record a bogey in either round.
Where it was won
Wilson struck the ball pretty well all day hitting 71.4 per cent of fairways and 77.8 per cent of greens in regulation, but perhaps more importantly every time he got in trouble he had an answer. His sand saves at the 11th and 17th holes -- where he had to coax in a 10-footer for par -- are what really made the difference. Of course, he had opportunities to really push the lead out of reach, but complaining about that would certainly be a little nit-picky. All-in-all he did what most winners on the PGA Tour do: beat up the par-fives. With only two of them -- albeit the two easiest holes on the course -- opportunities were few and far between, but he still got it done playing them at seven-under for the week.
Where it was lost
Marino -- First of all, full marks for his effort at the 18th hole. Knowing he needed an eagle to really put the pressure on Wilson he was aggressive off the tee. He was a little unfortunate that the ball stopped on the lip of a bunker, forcing him to hit a hook three-wood with the ball just about level with his belt buckle. Given the circumstances, it may have been the best shot of the year so far -- okay, it's early -- and he very nearly hold the eagle putt from 37-feet. But that miss is not where he lost the tournament. He played the eight, ninth and tenth holes at two-over and made a mess of all three. He missed his tee-shot way right at eight and wasn't able to save par; at nine he had just 185-yards on his second shot to a par five -- again, the easiest hole on the course -- and failed to even make birdie; and at 10, he hit a poor tee-shot, a poor pitch, a poor chip and a poor putt before tapping in for bogey.
Clark -- Hard to fault a guy for playing the final two rounds at 10-under, eventually having to limp your way around the course because of the blisters on your feet, but -- much like Graeme McDowell who was the hottest guy in the final round a week ago -- Clark will likely roux a couple of his missed opportunities, most notably the ones at his last two holes. At the eighth (his 17th) he missed an 11-foot birdie putt and followed that up by missing a 16-foot eagle putt at nine (again, his 18th), either of which could have put him into a playoff.
Shot(s) of the week
Stat of the week
69.10 -- That was Mark Wilson's final round scoring average in 2010, nearly two strokes better than his overall average of 71.10. He fired a bogey-free 67 in the final round today.
How I did this week
Steve Marino -- T2, -14
Justin Rose -- T13, -9
Boo Weekley -- T27, -7
Michael Sim -- 53, +1
Adam Scott -- MC
Early look at who I like next week
Bubba Watson, Mike Weir, Alex Prugh, Bo Van Pelt.
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