wilson wins sony open

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Mark Wilson endured an epic 36-hole Sunday before birdieing the last to win the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday.

Wilson barely had time to eat a sandwich, much less keep track of his round, when he arrived at the 17th green Sunday afternoon at the Sony Open and realized he had not made a single bogey during this 36-hole marathon.

His four-shot lead had dwindled to a stroke. Wilson was staring at a 12-foot par putt, and the closing hole was a par 5 that he had not been able to reach all week.

The thought was fleeting. The way his week had gone, the outcome was predictable.

“I thought about that before I hit the putt,” Wilson said. “I haven’t made a bogey all day, so why start now? It entered my mind, but when I was over the putt, I didn’t think about it.”

The putt curled in the side, and Wilson started his season with a win to earn his first trip to the Masters.

Wilson shot a 5-under 65 in the morning to take a one-shot lead into the afternoon round. With six minutes between rounds – enough time to get a chicken sandwich and a fresh box of golf balls from his locker – he closed with a 3-under 67 and held off late runs by Tim Clark and Steve Marino on different sides of Waialae.

Wilson’s last trip to Augusta National was 2001 – as a spectator.

“I get goose bumps thinking about it,” he said.

He nearly got chills watching Marino give himself one last chance with a remarkable shot. Clark had already finished with a 64 and was on the practice range at 14-under par. Marino was 13 under and needed an eagle, which looked improbable when his drive splashed out of the bunker and onto the side of a hill.

With his feet in the sand, and the ball about chest-high on the hill, Marino lashed at it with a fairway metal and watched it hook onto the front of the green and stop 40 feet away.

“I saw the ball, and I thought, ‘OK, eagle is going to be pretty tough for him to make.’ It was one incredible shot,” Wilson said.

Marino’s eagle putt narrowly missed, and Wilson pitched to 4 feet and made a birdie he didn’t need. He finished at 16-under 264 and earned $990,000 for his third career victory.

Clark, who started the final round five shots behind, birdied three of his last four holes. He had a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 8 slide by on the left, and he narrowly missed a 15-foot eagle putt on the last hole.

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