Monday 14 March 2016 08:30, UK
Charl Schwartzel claimed his first PGA Tour title since the 2011 Masters after edging out Bill Haas on the first play-off hole at the Valspar Championship.
Schwartzel posted six birdies in his closing 67, the best round of the day on the tough Copperhead Course at Innisbrook, reeling in long-time leader Haas before a cast-iron par on the first extra hole was enough to clinch his 15th victory as a professional.
Haas enjoyed a three-shot lead when he recovered from an erratic outward nine with birdies at 11 and 12, but Schwartzel's strong finish piled on the pressure and Haas carded his fourth bogey of the day at the 16th to leave the pair tied on seven under par.
The leaders headed back to the 18th tee, and Schwartzel split the fairway with a long-iron and knocked his second to the heart of the green, while Haas blocked his drive into trouble on the right and found a greenside bunker with his second.
Haas caught too much of the ball with his splash out and missed from 20 feet for par, and Schwartzel lagged to 18 inches before tapping in for his second win of 2016 having already lifted the Tshwane Open crown last month.
Schwartzel had opened his final round with a confident birdie and holed another from 13 feet at the third, and he parred his way to the turn before dropping his first shot of the day at the 10th, where he drove into the trees and his escape attempt cannoned into a branch and dropped into the rough.
He responded with a well-crafted birdie at the long 11th only to bunker his approach to the next and card another bogey, but he got back to within a shot of the lead when he drained a monster 65-foot putt for a superb two at the 13th.
Schwartzel got up and down from a greenside trap for another gain at 14, and he holed from just inside 25 feet at the 17th before narrowly missing out on back-to-back birdies when his 40-footer on the final green grazed the edge of the cup.
The 31-year-old then watched from the clubhouse to see if Haas could hang on to the lead he enjoyed for the majority of the final round.
Haas three-putted the first before atoning with a 12-foot putt for birdie at the second, but he bogeyed the next two when he blocked his approach to the third and chunked a chip from the greenside rough at the fourth.
Another shot went when he found a plugged lie in a bunker at the ninth, but the Presidents Cup player opened up a three-stroke lead when a superb second to the long 11th set up a two-putt birdie, which he followed up by converting a solid approach to 10 feet at the next.
Haas did well to get up and down from sand to salvage a par at 15, but he couldn't repeat the feat at the 16th and two closing pars added up to a 72, which left him tied at the top with Schwartzel.
Ryan Moore won the race for third after he parred the last 12 holes to return a 71 and finish on five under, but amateur Lee McCoy was arguably the star of the day as he outscored playing-partner Jordan Spieth to claim outright fourth on four under.
The 22-year-old, who is in his senior year at the University of Georgia, opened with a pair of birdies and, after dropping shots at the sixth and ninth, he prompted one of the loudest cheers of the day when he holed from 30 feet for birdie at the 12th.
McCoy picked up another shot at 14 and parred in for a commendable 69 to finish a stroke ahead of Charles Howell III and Graham DeLaet, who started the round as Haas' closest challenger but failed to make a single birdie in a disappointing 75.
Defending champion Spieth, who did well just to make the weekend after opening with a 76, took himself out of contention when he double-bogeyed the short eighth, and he offset two birdies with a pair of bogeys on the inward half as a 72 left him tied for 18th on level par.
