Azinger Wins, Ends Seven-Year Drought

In one swoop, Paul Azinger answered the question of whether he can win again after a bout with cancer and erased 14 years of frustration in Hawaii.

Azinger won the Sony Open on Sunday at Honolulu by pulling away with a bogey-free, five-under 65 for a seven-stroke victory over Australian Stuart Appleby.

“I feel terrific,” Azinger said. “I had some anxiety when I came here. I didn’t know what to expect. But I was determined not to get ahead of myself.”

In becoming a wire-to-wire winner in the PGA Tour’s first full-field event of the year, Azinger opened with rounds of 63, 65 and 68 en route to a 19-under 261 total.

Azinger, who turned 40 on Jan. 6, won for the first time since the 1993 PGA Championship. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in his right shoulder in 1993 and missed most of the next season.

“I had no doubt I was never going to win again, I was playing so bad,” he said, recalling his recovery. “Winning was not an option. I just didn’t see it coming back.

“It wasn’t until the middle of 1999 I started to see some consistency. By the end of the year, I felt it was a matter of time. It’s been six years since I won. Four of those years, I saw no hope.”

The 12-time tour winner also ended a frustrating run in Hawaii. When the tournament was known as the Hawaiian Open, he was a three-time runner-up and had five other top-10 finishes.

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Karrie Webb won the Office Depot Pro-Am by shooting a one-under-par 71 for a four-stroke victory in the first LPGA tournament of the year at West Palm Beach, Fla.

Similarities to Tiger Woods are not lost on Webb.

“I don’t compare myself [to him],” Webb said after her 16th victory, the same number Woods has on the men’s tour. “It is uncanny how we were rookies of the year at the same time and players of the year last season.”