Sony Open Recap: Kizzire Wins in Marathon Playoff

Patton Kizzire was the runaway top player on the Web.com Tour in 2014-2015 with two wins and two runners-up. And then he made a big splash on the PGA Tour with top-five showings in his first two events as a member. He was 28. Yes, he was a late bloomer, but his career was finally off and running.

Except it wasn't.

Kizzire meandered through the rest of 2015-16, then took a big step back in 2017-18.

Sometimes, it happens that way. Oftentimes in sports, careers don't progress in a straight line.

It's taken Kizzire a few years to get to where he appeared to be heading, but he's surely there now. The 31-year-old Alabaman won the Sony Open in a marathon playoff on Sunday, giving him two wins already in the young season.

Kizzire has always been a superior putter, but now he's also hitting the ball straight. Outside of the top-100 in greens in regulation his first two years on Tour, he is 32nd this season and was third in strokes gained approach for the week.

Waialae has similarities to the course where Kizzire won his first PGA Tour event, the OHL Classic at Mayakoba, back in November. Both are shorter tracks with smaller greens demanding accuracy with irons. So Kizzire may not be best suited for many of the courses over the rest of the season. But he is clearly an improved player.

What also has been impressive about Kizzire is his level-headedness. First, he stared down Rickie Fowler at Mayakoba. A lot of guys endure a severe regression after a life-altering first win, at least temporarily, but Kizzire returned from the winter break to tie for 15th in last week's elite Sentry Tournament of Champions field. And of course this week he won again. It wasn't a world-class field, but Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas and Marc Leishman were in it.

Many of the courses going forward may not be best suited for Kizzire's game, but there's also plenty of reason to think the former Web.com standout will now be a PGA Tour standout.

MONDAY BACKSPIN

James Hahn
Hahn was brilliant on Sunday with a 62 to come from seven strokes back to force a playoff. It took six holes before he finally fell short. Hahn is no slouch, with two prior wins, both on major-caliber tracks – Riviera and Quail Hollow. But he also doesn't have a lot of high finishes. In Hahn's first three seasons on Tour, he had two top-10s each time. Then he got three in 2015-16. And last season, he got four. It's entirely possible Hahn sets a career-best for top-10s this season. And that would make him a fairly valuable fantasy chip.

Tom Hoge
You had to feel bad for Hoge (unless you were backing Kizzire, Hahn, etc.). He was leading deep into the back-nine on Sunday after never having had even a sniff at victory on the PGA Tour. Alas, he doubled the 16th and finished a stroke out of the playoff in solo third. That's a career-best cash, but you wonder when/if he'll get so close again. Conversely, it was Hoge's third to-25 already this season, so he has earned our future attention. He's only 28.

Brian Harman
Harman turned in his fifth straight top-10, but he can't be pleased. Harman led for a good chunk of this tournament and, with Spieth, Thomas and Leishman all out of contention, it was his for the taking. He didn't take it. Harman wound up in a tie for fourth. He's amid the best stretch of golf his career, now up to a career-best 20th in the OWGR, but we don't think that's Harman's takeaway from the week. He's back at it this week at the CareerBuilder and in a much weaker field.

Webb Simpson
Simpson finished T4, just two strokes out of the playoff. Interestingly, it was his scrambling that cost him, not his putting. Simpson finished 12th in strokes gained putting on the week, while he was 61st in strokes gained around the green. He was among the best scramblers on Tour last season, so this was a bit perplexing. We have written repeatedly how Simpson's putting has improved greatly. It's now to the point where we see it being good enough to win a tournament. Simpson has three top-20s in four starts this season, after Sunday's T4.

Gary Woodland
Woodland has long been confounding to golf fans, and probably to himself, too: How can someone with so much talent not win more? Last season, Woodland had two runners-up, a T5 and a T6 in the early going. It appeared a third career win was lurking – and then family hardship struck. It's something Woodland will never get over, but it appears he's been able to resume playing golf at a high level. He tied for seventh at the Sony, including back-nines of 28 and 30. He nearly played well enough for that third career win.

Russell Knox
One of the more surprising names on the leaderboard was Knox (T10). After finishing 2016 in the top-20 in the OWGR, the 32-year-old Scot plummeted to 77th at the end of 2017. While we were initially intrigued to see Knox secure a second top-10 already this season, we looked backed and saw a similar arc last season – before the wheels fell off right after the Sony. So we now will have to wait and see.

Ryan Blaum
Blaum finally became at PGA Tour member last season, well into his 30s. And he showed enough flashes to easily keep his card. He's gotten a few nods here and there as a fantasy long shot and, if you had him last week, he paid off nicely with a T10. He also has a T20 this season but also three missed cuts and WD. At age 34, Blaum would've "made it" by now if he was going to make it at all. In other words, you might get lucky picking Blaum once in a while, but be prepared for a bunch of hollow weeks.

Scott Piercy
Piercy was finding another gear in his late-30s when he shut it down last June with an injury. He's started off this season four-for-four in cuts with two top-25s, including a T25 at the Sony. At 39, it's hard to predict how far Piercy's game will climb back, but at least he seems healthy. And at least for now, he's still flying a bit under the radar and won't be tagged with a too-high DraftKings price.

Ryan Palmer
Palmer is 41 and coming off shoulder surgery. He tied for 58th at the Sony, where he is a past champion (2010). Like Piercy, Palmer had been playing well into his late-30s. It's hard to see him coming all the way back, but he's another golfer who could deliver some a surprise cash or two at very favorable prices.

Jimmy Walker
Walker is trying to reboot his career after being diagnosed with Lyme disease. He's missed two cuts in two starts this season, including at the Sony, where he's a two-time winner. That is understandable, after going months without even practicing. It's admirable that Walker's been able to again compete at a high level but how high? He is 38 and, from strictly a fantasy perspective, can't be a strong consideration right now. That may change as he gets more playing time in. But it might not.