While Hawai'i tried to help 18-year-old Tadd Fujikawa make history two groups ahead, Zach Johnson shot a smooth 5-under-par 65 in relative anonymity yesterday to win the Sony Open in Hawai'i by two shots at Waialae Country Club.

Fujikawa, a Moanalua High School senior, failed to match the magic of Saturday's 62 in the final round. He closed with 73 and tied for 32nd at 5-under 275, 10 strokes behind Johnson. His first PGA Tour paycheck worked out to $29,237.14.

That is $6,620 more than he made in the 18 previous tour events he played since turning pro at age 16. Fujikawa tied for 20th at Sony two years ago, becoming the youngest in 50 years to make a PGA Tour cut, and turned back some $53,000 because he was an amateur.

The applause started for the 5-foot-1 giant killer when he walked across the street to the course in the morning. It did not relent, as Fujikawa was met with huge crowds in the practice area and, especially, all along the first hole. Most stayed with him to the bittersweet end.

The little guy made for great theater: He drew huge crowds for Sony into the weekend — something Michelle Wie never did — and moved the masses away from the leaders, who were remarkably easy to follow in the season's first full-field event.

After burying nine birdies Saturday, and sending the state into a frenzy, Fujikawa had just two birdies in his final round. He tried to hide his disappointment with that perpetual smile as the crowd roared while he walked to the 72nd hole. But since he qualified Monday, he had made it clear he was here to win, not make a cut or finish 32nd.

"There wasn't any real pressure, but the feeling was definitely different," Fujikawa said moments after it was over. "I couldn't get anything going today. I had the same mindset. I was very excited about it, but it didn't happen today.

"It was still a great week. I'm looking forward to playing more tournaments. It just shows I can do it. I qualified and made the cut and put myself in contention. I'll keep doing that and things will work out."

Johnson, who called Fujikawa a "borderline phenom," has no doubt. But on this day and week he was the best golfer at Waialae. He won his fifth tournament — including the 2007 Masters — by playing the back nine in 4-under. He salvaged his front nine with six one-putts and called his birdies at the 10th and 11th the most critical points of his round.

"David (Toms) made birdie on 8 and 9, and then hit a pretty good shot in there to about 6 or 7 feet (at No. 10) and I hit it about 15 feet," said Johnson, whose $972,000 check puts him over $13 million for his career. "That birdie putt certainly helped because I was able to hit a good shot on the next hole and make another birdie."

The 6-footer on No. 11 put him in first alone for the first time since the sixth hole, helping him shake the charges of Adam Scott (64) and playing partner Toms (66), who shared second. Charles Howell III (66) birdied the 16th and 17th to get within one, but three-putted the final hole to fall into fourth.

Johnson, who has now won two of his last six starts, would not relinquish the lead again, even with three of the world's premier golfers chasing and a precocious kid sucking up all the attention a couple holes ahead.

Scott, 28, is 17th in the World Golf Ranking, has won six times on this tour and eight more times around the world. The Australian finished out of the top 15 on the money list last year for the first time since 2003 and is working his way back from a knee injury suffered while surfing. This was his fourth top 20 at Sony in five tries.

Toms, 42, is also coming off an uncharacteristically poor year. Yesterday was his fifth top 15 at Sony in as many tries. His win here in 2006 is the last of his 12 on tour and the 2001 PGA Champion had just one top 10 last year, finishing out of the top 50 for the first time since 1996.

Howell, 29, has won twice before but is also trying to make his way back from a career-worst 69th in earnings. He has a trio of top-5 finishes here and had a realistic chance to win here two years ago, but lost a two-stroke advantage on the back nine.

Howell and Johnson, like Fujikawa, work on their game in Sea Island, Ga. That connection has Johnson more educated than most on the little man who made Sony a "Taddhouse" this weekend.

"What he did this week should be inspiring, not only to himself, but to other kids," Johnson said. "Just knowing him, and I've seen him work ... I'm on the range warming up yesterday and he got done before I teed off. I get done on 18 and I putt a little bit and I come in here and do my media stuff, hit a few balls; he's still putting. That's like 5 hours after the fact on a Saturday. I would have been over there at the beach.

"He's worked hard. That kid ... whatever he gets, he deserves. It's pretty awesome. I also think the way and the manner in which he is going about his business is very good relative to some others we've seen. I think his parents deserve a pat on the back for that."

Johnson tied for sixth last week at Kapalua in the Mercedes-Benz Championship, starting slow after a ski vacation and switch to new irons, then playing the final two rounds in 15-under — precisely his score over four days at Waialae. He can't wait to come back.

"After you get a taste of Maui, you always want to keep coming back," said Johnson, whose win here puts him in the 2010 Mercedes. "That's a good thing. I get to go back to Maui again. That's never a bad thing. And O'ahu ... starting your year in these two destinations is pretty awesome."