Fabian Gomez gets better of Brandt Snedeker to say aloha to Sony Open win in Hawaii

Argentina's Fabian Gomez fashions a Hawaiian 'shaka' sign as he holds the Sony Open trophy following his play-off victory (Marco Garcia/AP).

The 37-year-old closed with two birdies for an eight-under round of 62 and then got the better of American Brandt Snedeker in the sudden-death climax.

Gomez was four shots behind at the start of play, but stormed into contention with seven straight birdies midway through his round before a pair of bogeys let Snedeker back in.

The eventual winner then sunk a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th and followed it up with a 20-foot birdie from just off the green on the 18th to join Snedeker on a 20-under total of 260.

Zac Blair, who shared the lead with Snedeker overnight, had a 10-foot putt for eagle on the last to join them in the play-off, but missed.

Snedeker faced a 12-foot birdie putt on the first play-off hole to win it, but narrowly failed and Gomez sank a birdie putt on the next to put the pressure on Snedeker, who could not hole his own birdie putt that slid wide right.

The victory moves Gomez to just outside the top 50 in the world rankings, boosting his hopes of qualifying for the Olympics in Rio.