America’s Ryan Moore secured a first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship, coming through a playoff against his countrymen Jason Bohn and Kevin Stadler.
Moore started the final round four shots back of 54-hole leader Sergio Garcia and he looked to be out of contention as he reached the turn having failed to make a dent in the deficit. But the former US Amateur Champion rallied on the back nine and made five straight birdies from the 12th to the 16th. He posted a total of -16 joining Jason Bohn on that total. Bohn fired a superb closing round of 62 to scream up the leaderboard.
Stadler could have won the tournament outright as he came to the final hole holding a one-shot lead. But the son of 1980 Greensboro champion Craig Stadler failed to get up-and-down for par and dropped back into a tie with Moore and Bohn. “I just can’t play that hole.” He said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
The trio headed back to the 18th tee for a sudden-death playoff. Bohn was eliminated at the first extra hole when he failed to extricate himself from the greenside bunker. Moore saw off Stadler at the third extra hole when Stadler failed to make par.
It was an important victory for Moore who has struggled to make the transition from top amateur to successful professional. “This felt like an uphill battle," said Moore. “The whole time I've been on the PGA Tour, I just haven't been healthy, haven't felt like myself, and really kind of got some good momentum finishing tied for 10th at the U.S. Open and just kind of getting some confidence back in my game. That's really carried through to this week.”
With the win Moore climbed from 76th to 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings.
Sergio Garcia led by three at one point during the final round but he fell away, making three bogeys between the 8th and 12th holes. The Spaniard finished with a disappointing 70, one shot behind the leaders. He almost forced his way into a playoff when his bunker shot on the final hole almost dropped for birdie, but it stopped just on the edge of the cup. "I wish I could blame it on that but, unfortunately, it happened before." Garcia said.
Wyndham Championship Sedgefield Country Club, North Carolina Aug 20-23, purse $5,100,000, par 70
1 Ryan Moore (USA) 64 65 70 65 264 $936,000 T2 Jason Bohn (USA) 68 68 66 62 264 $457,600 T2 Kevin Stadler (USA) 69 63 66 66 264 $457,600 4 Sergio Garcia (Esp) 67 64 64 70 265 $249,600 T5 Michael Allen (USA) 68 65 65 68 266 $176,280 T5 Fred Couples (USA) 66 66 67 67 266 $176,280 T5 Justin Rose (Eng) 65 68 65 68 266 $176,280 T5 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 64 69 65 68 266 $176,280 T5 Kevin Sutherland (USA) 71 65 64 66 266 $176,280 T10 Bill Haas (USA) 62 69 66 70 267 $130,000 T10 Steve Marino (USA) 67 68 63 69 267 $130,000 T10 Chez Reavie (USA) 64 67 68 68 267 $130,000
Player scores listed in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only
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