Walker defends Sony title

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Jimmy Walker successfully defended his tile at the Sony Open in style as he blew away the field with a closing 63 in Hawaii.

The American’s final round, a seven under 63, left him on 23 under for the tournament, a record nine strokes ahead of of his closest rival Scott Piercy on 14 under.

Walker opened with seven straight pars, but then his putter clicked and he rolled in seven birdies over the next 11 holes to beat Paul Azinger’s winning margin of seven strokes in 2000.

The win makes up for Walker’s collapse at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions last Sunday, where he was three shots up with five to play and ended up losing in a playoff to Patrick Reed.

“I really wanted to finish out the day today, which I didn’t do last week,” the 36-year-old told Sky Sports.

“I kept grinding and making putts and that’s what I did today. It’s quite a bit different (to last week). I really wanted to try to finish out the day today like I kind of didn’t do last week and it was really fun.”

“I’ve got good people. I’ve got a great trainer, a good coach in Butch Harmon and a great wife and kids. Things are good.”

Meanwhile, fellow countryman Piercy heaped praise on Walker for his fourth win in 32 starts.

“He’s one of the hottest players in the world,” added the American.

“What he’s done the last year or two years, nobody’s catching him. It’s just a cake walk.”

Finishing one stroke behind Piercy on 13 under was the trio of Matt Kuchar, Harris English and Gary Woodland.

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