Sabbatini wins Colonial in playoff

Associated Press
Published: Monday, May 28, 2007 12:03 a.m. MDT
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FORT WORTH, Texas — Rory Sabbatini has a new plaid jacket to help him forget about all his recent near-misses.

Sabbatini won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial on Sunday, beating Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer with a 15-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.

It is the fourth career PGA Tour victory for Sabbatini, the South African who won the Nissan Open last year and earlier this season had consecutive top-three finishes at the Masters, the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and Wachovia.

After beginning the final round tied at 11 under, Sabbatini, Furyk and the 49-year-old Langer closed with matching 3-under 67s to finish at 14 under.

All three hit their playoff drives into the fairway on the 433-yard 18th. Their approach shots all landed safely on the green.

Furyk, No. 3 in the world ranking and the only one of the top 12 players at Colonial, missed his 34-foot putt. Sabbatini then made his putt before Langer, with the shortest putt and a chance to force another hole, missed an eight-footer to the right.

It was the first three-man playoff ever at the Colonial, which hadn't needed extra holes since 1994 before Tim Herron won a two-hole playoff last year with Richard S. Johnson.

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Tiger Woods had won the last three-man playoff on the PGA Tour, beating Nathan Green and Jose Maria Olazabal at the Buick Invitational in January 2006. Sabbatini finished the rain-delayed third round early Sunday with a 62, missing the tournament record by a stroke when his 8-foot birdie attempt scooted just left on No. 9, the last hole he played in the third round.

SENIOR PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: At Kiawah Island, S.C., Denis Watson took advantage of Eduardo Romero's late mistakes Sunday to win the Senior PGA Championship.

Watson, from Zimbabwe, edged Romero by two strokes to win his first title in 23 years and become the first international Senior PGA winner since Gary Player in 1990.

Watson closed with a 4-under 68 for a 9-under 279 total on The Ocean Course. Romero, who followed a bogey on the 13th hole with a double bogey on the par-3 14th, finished with a 72. Nick Price (71) finished third at 6 under.

Watson hadn't won since taking three PGA Tour titles in 1984.

LPGA CORNING CLASSIC: At Corning, N.Y., South Korea's Young Kim won the Corning Classic for her first LPGA Tour title, birdieing two of the final five holes for a three-stroke victory over Paula Creamer and Mi Hyun Kim.

Young Kim shot a 4-under 68 to finish at 20-under 268.

BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: At Virginia Water, England, Denmark's Anders Hansen holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Justin Rose to win the BMW PGA Championship.

BYU's Daniel Summerhays is competing as an individual at the NCAA Division I men's golf championships at the Golden Horseshoe Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va. The competition is slated for May 30-June 2.

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Rory Sabbatini reacts after missing a birdie putt on the ninth green during play at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday. (Donna Mcwilliam, Associated Press)
Donna Mcwilliam, Associated Press
Rory Sabbatini reacts after missing a birdie putt on the ninth green during play at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday.