Others could only observe as Walker was star of show

In astrophotographer/PGA Tour pro Jimmy Walker’s diverse world there is wonder in using his $30,000 telescope to gaze upon Orion’s Sword, the Andromeda Galaxy, Iris Nebula and Antares in the darkened skies.

Sunday in broad daylight there was another remarkable sighting.

This time, at Waialae Country Club, where few have shown brighter, the star was Walker.

In a performance he would come to describe as "surreal" and "very cool," Walker made it consecutive Sony Open in Hawaii titles, the latest with a 23-under-par 257, winning the 17-year-old event by a record nine strokes over second-place Scott Piercy.

Six days after a final-round fade cost him the title in a playoff to Patrick Reed in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, Walker would leave little room for challengers and even less for doubt.

The third-round leader nailed this one shut with seven birdies and no bogeys to earn the $1,008,000 paycheck.

"Jimmy never really missed a shot," said Matt Kuchar, who played in the same threesome and finished in a tie for third. "His driving was just so impressive. He put on a driving clinic and made the game look pretty easy."

Despite appearances, Walker said he reminded himself to "keep the pedal down."

As late as the 16th hole, where he led by eight strokes, Walker grimly stared down his putt. When a bystander shouted, "Great comeback this weekend, Jimmy," Walker acknowledged the support but hardly seemed celebratory or embracing of the impending victory.

If the events of Monday had been consigned to a mental back shelf, then what Walker glimpsed on TV this morning while going downstairs at his hotel for coffee provided a sobering reminder. There he saw the remnants of Martin Kaymer’s 10-shot lead collapse at the Abu Dhabi Championship.

"When I walked back up, I told Aaron (his caddy), I said, ‘Winning is hard. It really is. You just never know.’ "

Only after he recovered from his opening shot on the 18th hole — which had gone into the left rough beyond the ropes — did a smile begin to cross Walker’s features. "I wanted to take it all in, to enjoy the moment," Walker said.

Soon after, in the distance, he would hear the plaintive cries of a young son. "I heard him crying back there," Walker said. "I was like, ‘Almost, buddy. I’m almost done.’ "

With one last birdie, his 29th of the tournament, he was.

Monday he returns to his residence in Boerne, Texas, where he said construction is being completed on his own brick observatory, complete with a remote controlled sliding roof that will allow him to view and photograph the heavens from wherever he happens to be on the PGA Tour.

"I mean, obviously, this is very gratifying and you have to have something else (in your life), Walker said of his astrophotography hobby and sideline at darkskywalker.com. "I think you have to have an identity outside of what we do in our professional life and, I feel, I’ve got that."

Walker said, "You’ve just gotta take it all in. I feel like I’m very good at doing the astronomy stuff. And, I’m good at doing the golf stuff. You have to take it all in and enjoy it and enjoy the good times."

For Walker, few have shone brighter than Sunday.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.