HONOLULU — Some of the toughest battles Fabian Gomez ever faced were with the other caddies he grew up with in Argentina.

Money didn’t come easily. He got by on about $20 per round as a caddie in Resistencia, and he mowed lawns to earn extra cash. Cutting grass paid more. But it was those games with the other caddies that helped prepare him for moments like Sunday in the Sony Open.

“I learned how to behave, be patient and all that kind of stuff,” Gomez said after his playoff win over Brandt Snedeker. “I actually learned playing with the other caddies. They would go out there play for money. You have to learn no matter what, because you have to win.”

He needed all those lessons, and the greatest birdie streak of his life, to capture his second career PGA Tour title.

Starting four shots out of the lead in the final round, the 37-year-old Gomez ran off seven birdies that allowed him to soar into the lead. The streak started with a 12-foot putt on No. 6, and the next six birdies were all 8 feet or closer.

He followed with two straight bogeys, allowing Snedeker and Zac Blair to catch him. But he birdied the last two holes, from 10 feet on No. 17 and from 20 feet just off the 18th green, to close with an 8-under 62 and finish at 20-under 260.

Snedeker forced a playoff with a 4-foot birdie on the 18th, and Gomez outlasted him with another birdie — his 11th of the day — on the second extra hole.