Mark Wilson won his second PGA Tour event of 2011, coming through a playoff against fellow American Jason Dufner to win the Waste Management Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale in Arizona.
Wilson who won the Sony Open in January, re-started his round on Monday morning two strokes ahead of the field with just over five holes to play. Frost delays over the first four days meant tournament organisers were unable to get play completed on Sunday afternoon.
Wilson played steady, par golf for the remainder of his round and that was good enough to match the clubhouse total posted by Jason Dufner who had birdied two of his last three holes to get to 18-under-par.
Extra holes were required to separate the pair so they headed back to the tricky par-4 18th. Both players bailed out right with their tee shots to avoid the water lurking on the left side - Wilson found sand and Dufner the thick rough. Neither could get their approach shot close but both secured par.
Next it was over to the 10th where Dufner again found the rough from the tee but Wilson split the fairway. Dufner played a good second shot that ended some 30 feet from the cup before Wilson fired in an excellent seven-iron that left him a 10 foot putt for birdie. When Dufner left his birdie try well short, Wilson was given a chance to close out the tournament. He duly took it and secured his fourth career PGA Tour title.
Tommy "two gloves" Gainey, who plays with golf gloves on both hands and who'd entertained the galleries all week, saw his hopes drown on the short par-4 17th. He went for the green from the tee but watched on as his ball hit one of the red, lateral water hazard stakes and rebounded into the water.
He then took a drop, duffed his third shot and that too ended up wet. A triple bogey seven dropped him from a shot behind the leaders and a likely tied third place finish into a tie for eighth. It meant he picked up almost $200,000 less prizemoney.
Scotland's Martin Laird enjoyed a fabulous final 36 holes to climb the leaderboard. He shot a third round of 64 and a last round of 65 to move into a tie for third with Vijay Singh.
Waste Management Phoenix Open TPC Scottsdale, Arizona Feb 3-6, purse $6,100,000, par 71
1 Mark Wilson (USA) 65 64 68 69 266 $1,098,000 2 Jason Dufner (USA) 65 68 67 66 266 $658,800 T3 Vijay Singh (Fij) 69 65 68 66 268 $353,800 T3 Martin Laird (Sco) 68 71 64 65 268 $353,800 T5 Nick Watney (USA) 70 66 65 68 269 $222,650 T5 J.B. Holmes (USA) 65 70 67 67 269 $222,650 T5 Gary Woodland (USA) 68 66 69 66 269 $222,650 T8 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 69 68 66 67 270 $164,700 T8 Webb Simpson (USA) 70 66 67 67 270 $164,700 T8 Y.E Yang (Kor) 69 65 67 69 270 $164,700 T8 Chris Couch (USA) 66 65 68 71 270 $164,700 T8 Tommy Gainey (USA) 63 65 68 74 270 $164,700
Note: Player in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only
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