Fred Funk overcame a niggling back injury to beat Jose Coceres on the second play-off hole at the Mayakoba Classic in Mexico and join Craig Stadler in the record books.
Stadler was the first player to win on the PGA Tour after claiming a victory on the Champions Tour ? he took the BC Open and Ford Senior Players Championship in consecutive weeks in 2003. Funk?s Champions Tour victory came at the start of the year in the Turtle Bay Championship, Hawaii.
The 50-year-old fended off stiff competition from his junior colleagues, shooting a 14-under- par total of 266 to become the fifth oldest ever winner of a PGA Tour event.
Funk led the tournament, the PGA?s first in Mexico, from the start after posting a course-record, eight-under-par 62 on the Thursday. He carried a two-shot lead into the final day but chronic backache plagued his last round as he relinquished his lead to tie with Coceres.
Funk stuttered on the first of the play-off holes after finding the bunker with what should have been a routine mid-iron onto the green. But he regained his composure and sunk a birdie putt on the second extra hole to beat the diminutive Argentinean.
It seems he would be unwise to resign from PGA Tour just yet. The eighth tour victory of his career was worth $630,000. By comparison, his two Champions Tour titles were worth a combined $480,000.
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