It’s a story as old as the game itself coupled with a relatively new one when the winner of the Sony Open in Hawaii was crowned after the fourth round and two playoff holes Sunday.

Momentum on one side and a faulty putter on the other determined the winner.

Fabian Gomez was rolling so hard that not even a speed bump like back-to-back bogeys on the back nine could stop him. Meanwhile, despite at least sharing the lead at the end of all four rounds, the theme of the day and the weekend for Brandt Snedeker was frustration … due to his putting.

“I got about as little out of my round as I possibly could for a couple of days, as well as I played,” said Snedeker — and that’s saying a lot, considering he shot 4-under par 66 on both Saturday and Sunday.

“I hit so many quality golf shots, had so many good looks at birdies, and if I putt the way I did last week (at the Hyundai ….) I’m at 25 or 26 under par,” the 2012 FedEx Cup champion said.

As Snedeker predicted after Saturday’s play concluded, it would take an excellent final round regardless of leaderboard position going into Sunday to win it.

Few if any predicted the monster round necessary would come from Gomez, who started the day alone in fifth place, four strokes behind Snedeker and co-leader Zac Blair.

But despite the lapse at Nos. 13 and 14, his seven consecutive birdies for a total of eight on the front nine and then two more to close out the round made him unstoppable.

His confidence was that unshakable, especially when he got back on track at No. 17.

Gomez is from a country with great golf tradition, but he’s not a household name outside of Argentina … not quite yet, anyway. Now, with exemptions coming from winning on the PGA Tour (he also won last year at the FedEx St. Jude Classic) he can try to join legendary countrymen Roberto De Vicenzo (1967 British Open) and Angel Cabrera (2007 U.S. Open, 2009 Masters) as major winners.

He was born in Chaco, the same province as Jose Coceres, who in 2001 became the first Argentinian to win on the PGA Tour since De Vicenzo in 1968.

Coceres, now 52, has inspired Gomez, 37, and other younger players from the region. Emiliano Grillo, a 23- year-old rookie who finished tied for 33rd Sunday, may be the most promising. But this Sunday belonged to Gomez, a former caddie who has scrambled his way over the years through the Nationwide Tour, Tour de las Americanos and PGA Tour Latinoamerica.

As vagabond an existence as that may seem to be, it was living the dream for Gomez, who grew up poor and, in addition to caddying, cut grass to earn money from age 8.

“I lived close, right by the golf course,” he said through translator and friend Jose Campra. “And even though I played soccer, I had sort of an attraction toward the golf. And at some stage of life, 14, 15 years old, I saw I was pretty good at it, so I just kept going with that.”

A couple of years later he moved to Buenos Aires, where he began to work his way up. It’s all paying off for him now.

“I have great memories of when I was a caddie, not being able to afford to play, and now how it is to make some money and be able to play,” he said.

And win.

“Whenever one of these guys play good it’s a great day for Argentina,” said Campra.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.