Kuchar's back-9 rally leads to 4-shot Sony Open victory
Matt Kuchar carded a not-so-easy 4-under 66 to storm back and win the Sony Open by four shots.
His two-shot lead heading into Sunday quickly vanished after bogeying three of his first five holes at Waialae Country Club to fall one stroke behind Andrew Putnam.
However, Kuchar straightened it out on the back nine and battled back into a tie for the lead with five holes remaining. He eventually pulled away with back-to-back birdies on Nos. 15 and 16, in combination with a Putnam bogey, and coasted to the finish line to win at 22-under par.
The victory in Honolulu, Hawaii marks the 40-year-old's ninth PGA Tour title and second this season.
Putnam, 29, finished alone in second after jockeying with Kuchar for position atop the leaderboard all day. He was in second place at the conclusion of all four rounds.
Marc Leishman, Hudson Swafford, Chez Reavie, and Corey Conners all finished in a tie for third.
Notables Bryson DeChambeau (14-under) and Patrick Reed (13-under) wound up inside the top 15. Justin Thomas - the 2017 Sony Open winner - finished in a tie for 16th at 12-under.