Paul Goydos emerged top of the class in a wild finish to win the US$5.2 million Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday as the former substitute school teacher ended a decade-long drought on the PGA Tour.

Goydos birdied the par-five 18th to claim a one-stroke victory over Charles Howell and Luke Donald at the Waialae Country Club after his eagle putt hit the pin to leave an easy tap-in.

The 42-year-old Californian overcame a horrible start to the final round to collect the US$936,000 first prize after carding a 14-under 266 to record just his second victory on the PGA Tour, following his previous triumph at Bay Hill in 1996.

"I do try to win every decade, so I've accomplished that," said Goydos.

Goydos three-putted the first and third holes for bogeys, missing a short putt from inside two feet at the latter, but picked up six birdies and one more bogey on the remainder of his round on the way to carding a three-under 67.

Goydos took the lead with a 16-foot birdie at the par-four 16th, but fell back into a tie with Howell after a bogey at the 17th.

His second shot at the 18th came up short of the green, 25 feet from the hole, before a overhit chip stuck the flag to set-up the subsequent birdie which proved crucial.

"It's lucky the ball hit the hole," added Goydos. "I never thought it could go in. I'm very fortunate to be sitting here right now."

Goydos was still forced to wait to secure victory as Donald had a 57-foot eagle chip to force a tie but the ball clattered against the pin and stayed out.

"It always had a good line but it was going very fast," said Donald. "It would have taken a bit of luck to go in."

Howell also had a chance to force a play-off, but he pushed a 15-foot birdie putt wide, condemning the 2000 NCAA champion to a ninth runner-up finish on the tour following his lone victory in 2002.

"This one hurts," said Howell, who had a two-shot lead at the turn, but bogeys at the 12th and 13th proved costly.

Goydos added: "I was just trying to hang in there and try to take it one shot at a time.

"It sounds like a cliche, but things weren't going well early. After the third hole, I really played pretty good and just kept grinding it out and luckily I made a couple of long (putts) on 15 and 16, and got as lucky as you can get on 18.

Collated final round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Sony Open in Hawaii, Waialae CC, Honolulu, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

266 Paul Goydos 66 63 70 67

267 Luke Donald (Eng) 63 66 69 69, Charles Howell III 69 63 65 70

271 Steve Stricker 67 67 67 70, Jim Furyk 65 68 69 69, KJ Choi (Kor) 64 71 68 68, Douglas Labelle 69 71 66 65

272 Robert Allenby (Aus) 67 66 70 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 67 72 69 64

273 Pat Perez 68 70 69 66, Steve Lowery 72 67 67 67, Craig Kanada 72 65 66 70

274 Jerry Kelly 69 65 71 69, George McNeill 70 66 70 68, Paul Azinger 68 66 68 72, Bart Bryant 69 69 66 70, Jason Dufner 67 68 70 69, Bo Van Pelt 69 70 66 69, David Toms 70 68 68 68

275 John Senden (Aus) 69 67 68 71, Ted Purdy 67 68 66 74, Heath Slocum 66 68 71 70, Tadd Fujikawa 71 66 66 72, John Rollins 66 70 72 67, Jeff Maggert 73 65 67 70, Boo Weekley 69 67 71 68, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 66 70 68 71

276 John Daly 69 68 71 68, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 68 72 70 66, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 70 66 70 70, Robert Garrigus 68 72 67 69, Troy Matteson 69 68 69 70, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 69 67 68 72

277 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 71 70 67, Daisuke Maruyama (Jpn) 66 72 69 70, Harrison Frazar 71 67 69 70, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 67 70 69, Nathan Green (Aus) 67 71 70 69, Steven Marino 68 71 66 72, Craig Lile (Rsa) 70 67 71 69, Johnson Wagner 70 67 70 70

278 Will MacKenzie 65 68 74 71, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 68 71 71 68, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 67 70 68 73, Shane Bertsch 66 70 71 71

279 Kaname Yokoo (Jpn) 69 70 70 70, Chad Campbell 66 65 75 73

280 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 66 71 72, David Branshaw 67 69 76 68, Eric Axley 72 67 75 66, Jeff Sluman 66 72 75 67, Bubba Watson 71 66 72 71, Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn) 69 70 71 70

281 Kenny Perry 71 66 70 74, Brian Gay 68 69 70 74, Rich Beem 69 66 71 75, J.P. Hayes 70 70 71 70, Glen Day 71 69 72 69

282 Brett Quigley 70 70 73 69, Tim Petrovic 70 68 74 70, Cliff Kresge 71 67 71 73, Briny Baird 67 72 72 71

283 Ken Duke 69 69 71 74, Gavin Coles (Aus) 71 67 69 76

284 Azuma Yano (Jpn) 73 66 74 71, Cameron Beckman 69 70 70 75, Joe Daley 70 69 74 71

285 J J Henry 68 72 70 75, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 71 68 72 74, Davis Love III 70 70 71 74, Michael Putnam 71 69 70 75

287 Jeff Quinney 69 71 73 74

291 Tom Lehman 68 72 76 75