Langley stumbles, but finishes strong

Standing over a birdie putt on 18, Scott Langley had to step away from his ball as a helicopter flew over the green.

It was indicative of a rhythm he could never quite find on Sunday.

The PGA Tour rookie, who scorched Waialae Country Club for 19 birdies over the first three days, couldn’t keep up with playing partner Russell Henley, shooting even-par 70 in the final round of the Sony Open in Hawaii to finish in a tie for third place.

Langley, who was either first or second after each of the first three rounds, had one more bogey on Sunday than in the rest of the tournament combined, needing birdies on 17 and 18 to finish in a tie for third with Charles Howell III — a full seven shots behind Henley.

"I wish I would have played a little bit better today — made some more putts — but Russell played so awesome, I don’t even know if I could have caught him," Langley said.

Friends since middle school, Langley and Henley entered the final round in the same group for the fourth consecutive day.

With conditions eerily similar to the first three rounds, another low-scoring day seemed to be in the works.

However, a two-shot swing on the first hole started a rough front nine for Langley, who mis-hit a chip shot, resulting in a bogey.

He tried to get things back with birdies at the turn on Nos. 9 and 10 but consecutive bogeys on 15 and 16 put the first-prize check of $1,008,000 out of reach.

"I didn’t totally feel comfortable with my swing out there all day," Langley said. "To be honest, my short game was not very good for most of the day, so certainly I can work on that."

By the time Langley looked up at the scoreboard on 16, he was seven shots back and potentially on his way to finishing outside the top 10.

He hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th to within 15 feet and sank that for a birdie to get back to 16 under. He had a similar putt on 18 that he had to look over twice before just barely getting it to settle in the hole to avoid shooting over par in the round.

"I really wanted to move up (the leaderboard) and wanted to make that putt for sure on 17 to make it a trifecta for our group," said Langley, who was joined by runner-up Tim Clark in the final threesome of the afternoon.

Even with all that, Langley’s first week on the PGA Tour ended with a check for $324,800. It’s the beginning of what the 23-year-old hopes will be a long and prosperous career.

"I feel like I’m here to stay," said Langley, who won the 2010 NCAA title at Illinois. "I feel like I can compete. I feel like I can play good golf and have proven to myself this week I can have a chance to win, I can be in the last group, I can be in contention."

He was one of three players in the top seven who weren’t on tour a year ago.

Brian Stuard, who like Henley earned his card by finishing in the top 25 of the money list on the Web.com Tour, shot back-to-back 65s on the weekend to jump up the board into a tie for fifth with Matt Kuchar and Chris Kirk.

"I practiced hard the last few weeks to get ready for this week, and it’s nice to start off the year good," said Stuard, who was also a full-time member on tour in 2010. "I think I’m more confident in my game."