'Stached Wagner fulfills preseason proclamation

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HONOLULU -- Johnson Wagner didn't intend to grow a mustache. He's never been into the whole facial-hair look. But during the Thanksgiving holiday, he stopped shaving, and suddenly he had a choice.

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So he shaved off the beard but kept the mustache. His wife Katie hated it. "Made me want to grow it even more," Wagner said mischievously.

Then his golfing buddies saw it and told him to keep it through Hawaii. A good conversation starter, no doubt. Meanwhile, his friends were giving him grief. Luckily, his skin is thicker than the 'stache.

Then he got to Maui last week and Harrison Frazar started calling him Magnum P.I. So did everybody else. Wagner's just 31 years old; he didn't know what that meant. So he opened up the computer, googled Tom Selleck, saw the photos ... and took it as a compliment. "Tom Selleck is a stud," he said.

Meanwhile, Wagner made a deal with himself. If he could get an invite to the Masters this year, he would keep the mustache.

That's a done deal now after Wagner emerged from a large and ever-evolving pack of contenders to win the Sony Open in Hawaii by two shots over Frazar, Carl Pettersson, Sean O'Hair and Charles Howell III. Not only is Wagner headed to Augusta after the third win of his PGA TOUR career, he also moves atop the FedExCup points list in claiming the first full-field event of the year. Oh, and he's guaranteed a return trip to Maui next year for the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions before attempting to defend his new title.

The way Wagner spoke about his new look Sunday night after his final round of 3-under 67, you'd think the mustache has superhuman powers. He remembers it being part of the motivation for telling his family and close friends that he was going to win early this year.

"It was the start of December," Wagner said. "The mustache was young. I was working out hard. ... My dad thought I was on speed or something. I just had all of this energy from working out and I guess that's what it was."

Updated standings

With two top-10s (including Sunday's win), Johnson Wagner is the early FedExCup leader. See where everyone ranks here: Standings

In mid-December, Wagner, while talking to his brother, said he felt so confident about his game that he could go anywhere in the world that week and win. In a notebook that Wagner carried to the golf course, he wrote down observations about his game, thoughts he had during practice sessions. Things were becoming so clear about what he needed to do to take the next step.

Things were falling into place. After finishing tied for ninth last week at Kapalua, Wagner arrived at Waialae and found a course to his liking -- dry and firm. Although Wagner had missed the cut in his last three starts here, he knew these were conditions suited for his game.

Starting the day two strokes off the lead, Wagner was in the penultimate group with Charles Howell III, the two of them chasing 54-hole co-leaders Matt Every and Jeff Maggert.

Although Wagner started slow, Every and Maggert started worse, dropping back to the pack. Suddenly, the list of contenders had grown to nearly a dozen. When Frazar and his playing partner Keegan Bradley made the turn, they looked at the leaderboard.

""We think there was 11 people within one shot," Frazar said. "My caddie and I both laughed. We said, 'Game on.'

"But I guess it didn't take long for Johnson to make a couple of birdies."

When Wagner bounced back from a bogey at the sixth hole with a birdie at the seventh, then another one at the par-5 ninth, he was 11 under and tied for the lead.

Although others were still in the mix, Wagner figured the winner would come out of his group. After all, Howell has always played well here on the weekends and Wagner had eaten up the back nine all week.

"Figured it was at least mine and Charles Howell's to lose because we were pretty neck-and-neck there on the front," Wagner said. "I felt like it was going to come down to us."

But Howell couldn't get anything going on the greens. For the day, he ranked 59th out of 70 players in Strokes Gained-Putting, giving up 1.560 strokes to the field.

"I didn't think I would lose today because of my putter, frankly," said Howell after his sixth top-10 finish in this event.

That left it in Wagner's hands. He didn't disappoint. A couple of birdies coming in was all he needed. He had fulfilled his proclamation that he would win early this season.

Having filled one of his goals, however, doesn't mean Wagner is finished. He's aiming higher. Another one of his goals is to get into the top 50 in the world (he entered the Sony Open ranked 198th but could move inside the top 100 with the win).

As he was talking about that goal, though, Wagner seemed to raise the bar even higher.

"Why stop at top 50?" he asked. "Why can't I be in the top 10 in the world?

"I drive it good. I play good golf. I think I just want to be the best that I can."

The mustache has spoken. And yes, it might be time to fear it.