PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. - Chesson Hadley won the Web.com Tour Championship. John Peterson won a trip back to the TPC Sawgrass to play in a far bigger tournament.
Lee Williams felt like the biggest winner of them all Sunday.
Needing a birdie on the 18th hole to have any chance of a PGA Tour card, Williams rapped a 55-foot birdie putt over the ridge and into the cup for a 69. Andres Gonzalez, playing in the same group, gave him a high-five and then missed a 12-foot birdie putt that would have knocked Williams out of the top 25 from a four-tournament money list that determines tour cards for next season.
The last hope for Gonzalez was for Andrew Loupe to make bogey on the final hole. Loupe ran his birdie attempt 5 feet past the hole, and made it coming back for par to join Peterson, his teammate at LSU, on the PGA Tour next month.
The tournament wrapped up the inaugural Web.com Tour Finals - four tournaments in which 25 cards were awarded based on the money list from those events. The tournaments were for the top 75 on the Web.com Tour money list during the regular season, and Nos. 126-200 from the FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour. The top 25 from the Web.com regular season were assured their cards.
Third-round leader ScottGardiner (Farmington) finished with a 2-over 72 which put him in a tie for second place with three others, including Peterson. Gardiner secured his PGA Tour card for next season with the finish.
Hadley closed with a 1-under 69 for his second Web.com Tour victory of the year. He finished No. 4 on the money list, so his card already was safe.
Peterson won the Web.com Finals money list by $567 over Hadley. Peterson didn’t finish outside the top five in any of the Web.com Finals events. By winning the Web.com Finals money list, he has full status on the PGA Tour next year and a spot in The Players Championship, the richest tournament in golf.
Tag Ridings (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished in a tie for 29th, eight strokes behind Hadley.
Glen Day (Little Rock) was one stroke behind that after a 1-over 71 on Sunday.
Hadley finished at 10-under 270 and still earned $180,000 and a high priority ranking for his rookie season on the PGA Tour.
PGA EUROPEAN Howell holds off Uihlein
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland - England’s David Howell ended a seven-year victory drought with a playoff victory over American Peter Uihlein in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
The former Ryder Cup player won with a 12-foot birdie putt on the second extra hole on the Old Course at St. Andrews. Howell closed with a 5-under 67 to match Uihlein at 23-under 265. Uihlein shot 69.
Howell beat Tiger Woods in 2006 to win the inaugural HSBC Champions and has played more than 200 tournaments since his last victory in the BMW Championship later that year.
England’s Tom Lewis (64) and Ireland’s Shane Lowry (68) tied for third at 22 under.CHAMPIONS TOUR
Triplett defends title
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Kirk Triplett successfully defended his First Tee Open title at Pebble Beach, closing with a 4-under 68 for a two-stroke victory over Doug Garwood and Dan Forsman.
Three strokes behind leader Tom Lehman entering the round, Triplett finished at 11-under 205 for his second career Champions Tour title. Last year, the three-time PGA Tour winner overcame a fourshot deficit.
Garwood, a Monday qualifier making his fourth career start on the 50-and-over tour, and Forsman each shot 69. Lehman was fourth at 8 under after a 74.
Sports, Pages 20 on 09/30/2013