Ogilvy repeats as SBS champ
Whether he's running away from the field or chasing from behind, Geoff Ogilvy has found the secret to winning the season-opening SBS Championship at Kapalua, Hawaii.
A year after winning by 6 shots, Ogilvy rallied from a 2-shot deficit with 10 holes to play with smart decisions and flawless golf for a 6-under 67 and a 1-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini on Sunday.
Ogilvy posted his eighth consecutive round in the 60s on the Plantation Course. He joined fellow Australian Stuart Appleby as the only repeat winners since this tournament moved to Kapalua in 1999, and he became only the seventh player in the 58 years of this winners-only tournament to win in consecutive years.
"We knew what we had to do," Ogilvy said. "I'd never been in that situation. I'm happy and excited to get it done. I needed to make birdies and I did."
Even though he trailed in the middle of his round, Ogilvy still had plenty of holes in front of him.
He played short of the par-4 14th, a 272-yard hole where most players were hitting driver, and pitched to 4 feet for birdie. And he took the outright lead with a 5-wood into 25 feet for a 2-putt birdie on the 15th.
Sabbatini, who started the final round 6 shots behind, ran off 5 straight birdies on the back nine to seize the lead and closed with a 63. He couldn't reach the green on the 663-yard 18th in two, however, and missed a 10-foot birdie putt that ultimately cost him.
"I said to my caddie, 'We need to birdie the last two holes to have a chance,"' Sabbatini said. "The situation was you had to keep moving forward to put pressure on him. I had my opportunity, and unfortunately, it didn't pan out."
Africa Open: Charl Schwartzel of South Africa won the Africa Open by 1 shot over countryman Thomas Aiken despite bogeying the final hole at East London, South Africa. Schwartzel had a 6-under 67 to finish at 20-under 272 at the East London Golf Club in the tournament co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour and the European Tour. It was Schwartzel's fourth European Tour win.