Glover Downs Byrd In Charlotte Playoff
CHARLOTTE, NC (Sports Network) - Lucas Glover two-putted for par on the first playoff hole to defeat Jonathan Byrd and win the Wells Fargo Championship.
Glover closed with a three-under 69 to get in at 15-under-par 273.
Byrd poured in a 14-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation to force the extra session. Byrd, the third-round leader, shot even-par 72 in the final round at Quail Hollow Club.
The duo returned to the 18th hole for the playoff. Byrd played his second from a fairway bunker and pulled it left of the green. He was on grass, but inside a hazard line.
Glover dropped his approach to 20 feet.
Byrd's chip shot ran 26 feet by the hole. His par putt curled around the cup, and he tapped in for bogey.
Glover lagged his birdie effort to four feet and rolled the next putt in to collect his first PGA Tour title since the 2009 U.S. Open.
"It was a great week, obviously, but as of Tuesday afternoon, it was still kind of a struggle. I found a little something late Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning in the pro-am and played very well on Wednesday," said Glover, who had missed the cut in his last three starts and his best finish in seven starts this year was a share of 20th at the Transitions Championship.
"I don't usually put a lot of stock into how I play on Wednesdays, but I needed something with some confidence in it, and I played well, and I just took that with me Thursday and got off to a good start, played great, and then it just kind of fell in and was kind of there the rest of the week."
Rory Sabbatini fired a bogey-free, seven-under 65 to take third place at 14- under-par 274. Bill Haas managed a two-under 70 to end at minus-13, while Kevin Na was one stroke further back at 12-under-par 276 after a final-round, one-under 71.
Glover and Byrd, who were teammates at Clemson, were two of the five players that had a share of the lead during the final round.
The 31-year-old Glover poured in a 26-foot eagle putt on the 10th to jump into the lead at minus-15. He missed the green on the 12th and that led to a bogey, which dropped him into a share of the lead with Byrd and Sabbatini.
Glover came right back with a 20-foot birdie effort on 13, but stumbled to another bogey on 14, where he found water with his second shot. Glover got back to minus-15 with a tap-in birdie on the 15th.
He parred the last three holes and waited Byrd, who was in the final group. Glover did predict the playoff though.
"I told you he was going to make birdie because we (Glover and Byrd) had a little talk yesterday that we wanted to be paired together late," Glover told Peter Kostis of CBS in a televised interview.
And he was right.
Byrd made the turn at minus-14 and parred the first four holes. He fell two strokes back when he found water with his second at the par-four 14th.
The 33-year-old knocked his third to two feet at the 15th and kicked that in for birdie to get back within one. After a pair of pars, Byrd headed to the last needing to make birdie to force the playoff and make Glover's prediction come true.
Byrd dropped his approach to 14 feet. He drained that putt to force the extra session. It was just the third birdie on No. 18 in the final round.
"Obviously, I'm a little disappointed just because you're here to win. You love to compete, especially when you get in a playoff," Byrd stated. "You birdie the last, you feel like, hey, this is just going to work out.
"Today was the worst I've played all week, but I still hung in there and still gave myself a chance and did some amazing stuff on the last three holes. I'm just a little disappointed with how I played the rest of the 15 holes earlier in the day."
Pat Perez (75), Zach Johnson (68) and Bobby Gates (69) shared sixth place at 11-under-par 277.
NOTES: This was Glover's first PGA Tour playoff, while Byrd dropped to 2-1 in extra sessions...Glover collected $1.17 million for the win...This was the third straight week the PGA Tour has gone to a playoff...Johnson holed out for eagle on two par-fours, the first and 14th...Rory McIlroy posted 128 on the weekend last year en route to winning and Sabbatini almost matched that as he shot 131 on the weekend to end one back...Perez posted a tournament-record 26 birdies, but also had 13 bogeys and a double-bogey.
