Kaye, who earned his first PGA Tour title last year in Harrison, N.Y., after 194 starts without a victory, shot a 4-under-par 67 Sunday and won by two strokes over Chris DiMarco.
This time, Kaye went only 12 tournaments between wins. He finished at 18-under 266 and earned $936,000 — more than he had in all but three of his nine previous years on tour — to take the top spot on the money list for the first time at $1,292,944.
“This one feels a little better than the first one,” Kaye said.
He handled the pressure of playing alongside previous Phoenix winners Phil Mickelson and DiMarco, getting a firsthand view of his partners’ struggles.
DiMarco bogeyed the 16th and 17th holes, and Mickelson bogeyed his last three, leaving Kaye smiling as he approached the 18th green.
He parred out, rolling a 28-foot first putt within tap-in distance.
“I was still worried about Chris pouring that putt in and me potentially three-putting it,” Kaye said. “I was pretty focused and trying not to get too far ahead of myself, but it was a good feeling — goose bumps on top of goose bumps.”
DiMarco, the 2002 winner, finished with a 69.
Steve Flesch and defending champion Vijay Singh shot 66s to tie for third.
It was Singh’s 11th consecutive top-10 finish, the longest run since Greg Norman had six straight in 1993 and five more starting 1994. Jack Nicklaus set the record with 14 in 1977.
Duffy Waldorf (65) and Masters champion Mike Weir (69) finished at 271, with first-round leader Scott Verplank (69) and Mickelson (72) at 272.
“It’s dejecting when you have a chance to win and you don’t but I’d rather be in that situation,” said Mickelson, who ended an 18-month victory drought by winning the Bob Hope last week. “Last year, I didn’t have those chances.”
Mickelson started a stroke behind Kaye and DiMarco but had a two-shot lead at 15 under after a birdie on the fifth hole. Then he bogeyed the par-3 seventh when he drove into the rough on the right side of the green, chipped on and two-putted from 4 feet.
