PALM BEACH GARDENS, March 15: American Todd Hamilton, a 38-year-old US PGA Tour rookie who was a star on the Japanese tour, birdied the last two holes to pass Davis Love and win the Honda Classic ON Sunday.
Hamilton began the day with a four-stroke lead but struggled through the final round, soaring to four over-par and finally falling behind when Love birdied the 18th hole.
But Hamilton, who won 10 titles and US$5.6m on the Japanese PGA Tour, answered the challenge. He birdied the 17th to pull even, then dropped his approach four feet from the cup and sank the putt for the title.
"This is a dream come true. It's very satisfying," Hamilton said. "There's a lot of golfers who probably deserve this but no one who will appreciate it more. "I kind of struggled for a long time but lo and behold I found a couple of birdies at the end. I don't know how I did it but luckily I pulled it off."
Hamilton's final round 74, two-over par, left him at 12-under par 276 and paid off 900,000 dollars. He denied Love, who had a final-round 69, the greatest last-day comeback in the history of the five million-dollar event. "I think I'm going to get an early start on St. Patrick's Day," Hamilton said. "I never would have dreamed it would happen this quickly".
Final-round scores
276 - Todd Hamilton 68-66-68-74
277 - Davis Love 69-69-70-69
278 - Brian Bateman 71-69-70-68
279 - Kevin Na 67-72-71-69, Woody Austin 71-69-69-70, Robert Allenby 68-74-67-70, Fredrik Jacobson 67-69-70-73
280 - Brad Faxon 68-66-76-70
281 - Chad Campbell 71-70-71-69, Tommy Armour 69-69-73-70, Lee Janzen 74-66-70-71, Rory Sabbatini 66-72-71-72
282 - Geoff Ogilvy 73-70-70-69, Craig Bowden 69-69-72-72, Mark Hensby 65-73-71-73, Zach Johnson 69-75-66-72, Chris Riley 72-67-68-75, Rodney Pampling 75-67-67-73, Tom Pernice 70-68-70-74, Carl Pettersson 63-68-76-75
283 - Luke Donald 70-69-75-69, Briny Baird 68-71-73-71, Larry Mize 68-71-70-74, Aaron Baddeley 72-69-67-75. -AFP
