By IANS
Honolulu : The blustery conditions at the Waialae Country Club in Hawaii took their toll as Daniel Chopra ballooned to a three-over 73, his worst of the week, that saw him drop to 32nd at the end of the final round at the Sony Open championships Sunday.
It was not just Chopra who struggled. Even the eventual champion K.J. Choi of Korea had problems with the wind that led to the palm trees swinging and the tee shots going wayward. Still Choi held off a late challenge from South African Rory Sabbatini to finish with a 1-over 71 and pick up his seventh PGA Tour title. Choi finished at 14-under 266 and earned $954,000.
A change in the calm conditions all week saw the winds return in a big way on the final day. Only eight players broke par.
Choi’s win also meant that after the first two events in the 2008 season Americans are still looking for their first win. Indo-Swede Chopra won the Mercedes Benz Championships last week and now it was Korean Choi’s turn.
Chopra’s hopes of rising from his overnight 26th place received a rude jolt as he bogeyed three in a row from fourth to sixth holes and his only two birdies of the day came on seventh and ninth. He also bogeyed the 11th and 16th holes.
With the wind affecting all, Chopra managed 44 percent greens in regulation, a far cry from his 100 percent on the first day.
Sabbatini started six shots behind, made a great run in the back nine with six birdies but ended with a three-putt par on the last hole as he finished with a 68. The South African had a bogey and a double bogey on the front nine, besides three birdies.
Choi won for the seventh time on the PGA TOUR, and for the fourth consecutive season. Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh are the only other active players who have won each year.
Choi did not get his first birdie until the final hole but by then his victory was secure.
Jerry Kelly closed with a bogey-free 67 to finish alone in third.
Choi, 37, became the first outright wire-to-wire winner at the Sony Open since Paul Azinger in 2000.
Steve Stricker birdied the last hole for a 70 and finished in a tie for fourth with Stephen Marino (72), Pat Perez (70) and Kevin Na, who made an eagle on the final hole for a 72. Stricker now has a top-five finish in both starts this year.