Si Woo Kim heard the cheers on the 16th green behind him and instantly realized he had nothing to lose.
Just moments after third-round leader Hayden Buckley rolled in a 16-foot birdie putt to retake the outright lead, Kim chipped in from off the green at 17 to tie.
It led to the first of two fist-pumps in a matter of minutes as Kim launched a 5-iron from a leftside bunker on 18 onto the green for a two-putt birdie that ended up the difference in his victory at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday at Waialae Country Club.
Kim shot consecutive 6-under 64s on the weekend to win the tournament at 18 under when Buckley’s 12-foot birdie putt on 18 stayed left of the hole.
It’s the fourth PGA title for Kim and first since 2021 for the 27-year-old South Korean, who won the Players Championship when he was 21.
“I really want to win when I play every week, but I know it’s high expectations,” Kim said speaking English without a translator. “Like a little bit of holding me up, but I keep trying to be positive and yeah, now I finally won the tournament.”
Nine players who started the day tied for ninth or better were looking for their first PGA win, including Buckley, who shot a 2-under 68 to finish in solo second at 17 under.
Kim was one of the only players within shouting distance of the lead to get off to a hot start, sinking birdie putts of at least nine feet on his first three holes to get to 15 under.
He made two mistakes on the front nine with bogeys on 6 and 8, but managed to answer with birdie both times.
He shrugged off a three-putt on 6 with an iron to 7 feet on the par-3 7th he knocked in to gain a shot back.
He missed the green with his approach on 8 to make bogey but responded with a 50-foot putt for eagle on 9 that stopped within inches of the hole.
“Was trying to definitely be aggressive on tee shots, but I made birdie the first three so I was on fire and I was trying to get more aggressive,” Kim said. “I think I had a little too much confidence. That’s why I made a couple of bogeys on the front, so had to get back a little bit to just trying to hit shots and be less aggressive.”
Kim needed that aggressiveness to come back after he and Buckley pulled away from the rest of the leaderboard.
Seventeen players were within three shots of the lead in the afternoon when Kim and Buckley at one point went three up on everybody else.
Buckley had an up-and-down back nine playing with the lead. He missed two putts of five feet or less for par but also made a 16-footer for birdie on 12 and a 29-foot bomb on 14 to stay on top.
His 16-foot birdie putt on No. 16 was what got Kim’s attention as he stood over his chip after rolling off the green with his tee shot.
“Kind of a tough pin (on 17), and then it’s hard to stop on the green because of the helping wind,” Kim said. “I was over the green kind of like into the grain, but tough lie. I knew he made a putt. I heard the noise. I have to hit it aggressive and I made it. Nothing to lose.”
Buckley safely made par on 17 and needed birdie on 18 to force a playoff. He needed to get up and down from short of the green in the right rough and hit his chip 12 feet past the hole, but couldn’t make the putt coming back down.
“I feel like I made a lot of those long putts, but I struggled on the short ones. That really just caught up to me at the end,” Buckley said. “I knew (the putt on 18) went left. It’s tough. I feel like I missed left all day. That’s kind of my tendency. It’s tough to mentally come back from that when you’re missing a lot of putts left and you have a right-to-left putt at the end.”
Buckley more than doubled his season earnings over six previous tournaments, taking home $861,100 for second place.
He’s now made six consecutive cuts.
“Overall, I was impressed by what I did and I think I’ll remember this day and it’ll just make me better,” Buckley said. “I think it’s just going to light a fire under me to keep working hard, and next time I’m in that situation not let it go that way.”
Chris Kirk, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the first two rounds, shot 68 to finish in third place at 15 under for his third top-three finish at Waialae.
Andrew Putnam, who finished runner-up to Matt Kuchar in the 2019 Sony Open in Hawaii, led a trio of golfers in a tie for fourth place at 14 under for his second top-five finish of the season.
Defending champion Hideki Matsuyama ended a run of 14 consecutive rounds under par at Waialae with a 1-over 71 to finish in a tie for 48th at 7 under.
