Eagle on 9 gets Ogilvy back on track

KAPALUA, Hawaii - Paradise is no place to panic, although Geoff Ogilvy had reason to Sunday at Kapalua.

Playing some of the best golf of his career, he took a 6-shot lead into the final round of the season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship. After eight holes, his lead was down to 1 over a hard-charging Anthony Kim.

"It's an uncomfortable feeling to know you're 6 shots out in front and you're almost back to tied," Ogilvy said after his wire-to-wire victory. "You can just imagine what people are thinking. It's not a very nice feeling."

What followed put everyone at ease, starting with Ogilvy.

He hit a 3-iron from 223 yards into 20 feet below the hole, then made the eagle putt to regain control. Ogilvy birdied five of the next six holes and sailed home to a 5-under 68 for a 6-shot victory.

"Something made him mad, I guess, somewhere coming up on the ninth fairway," Davis Love III said. "And then I guess he made eagle and went nuts."

Ogilvy joined Ernie Els and Vijay Singh as the only wire-to-wire winners at Kapalua since the tournament moved here in 1999, having the outright lead over the final 58 holes.

"I enjoyed the last 21/2 hours more than I enjoyed the first two hours," Ogilvy said. "Once I got through nine, I really enjoyed every hole. I felt a lot better about everything."

Kim couldn't keep up, making only 1 birdie on the back nine until he finished with a 3-wood that stopped inches from the cup on the 18th for a tap-in eagle and a 67. He tied for second with Love, who birdied the 18th for a 67.

"I knew he was just teasing me for a little while there, and he was going to make some birdies," Kim said. "Unfortunately, I couldn't."

It was Ogilvy's fifth PGA Tour victory.