Justin Thomas cannot be stopped, at least not on the Hawaiian Islands, after easing to a victory at the Sony Open.
After edging out Hideki Matsuyama at the Tournament of Champions last week, Thomas dismantled the field in Honolulu to win by seven strokes at 27 under on Sunday.
With his third win of the season, Thomas set the record for the lowest 72-hole score (253) on the PGA Tour, while he became the first player since Tiger Woods in 2013 to win three of his first five official starts to begin a campaign.
Thomas started the week by becoming the youngest golfer in Tour history to shoot a 59 after recording an eagle on his final hole. He never looked back, winning the tournament wire-to-wire via a final-round 65, which featured six birdies and just one bogey.
Entering the fourth round on cruise control, Thomas let his seven-shot lead slip down to five early. He responded with birdies on five of seven holes in the middle of his round to end any doubt, becoming the first player to win both the Tournament of Champions and the Sony Open since Ernie Els accomplished the feat in 2003.
Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose finished runner-up at 20 under. Rose birdied three out of his last four holes to sneak past former World No. 1 Jordan Spieth.
Spieth started his final round with three consecutive birdies, but he was still seven shots back after the surge. His round stalled for a bit after that, however, he shot a five-under 30 on the back nine to climb into third for the second successive week.
Kevin Kisner, who nearly shot a 59 of his own in the third round, and Jamie Lovemark tied for fourth at 18 under.
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