Vijay Singh took advantage of a record-tying collapse by Sergio Garcia and an untimely mistake by Jim Furyk, rallying from six shots behind with a 6-under 66 and winning the Wachovia Championship on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday.
Singh only needed a par on the 18th hole at Quail Hollow to win for the third time this year after Furyk's tee shot skipped over a creek and rolled down into the water.
Still, he needed more help than anyone imagined possible.
Garcia started of the day with a six-shot lead, then recovering from his meltdown to take a one-shot lead with two holes to play.
But he pulled his tee shot on the par-3 17th into the water and scrambled for bogey, and missed a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to fall into a three-man playoff.
It matched the largest final-round collapse in US PGA Tour history, last accomplished by Greg Norman in the 1996 Masters. Garcia was eliminated in fitting fashion, three-putting from 45 feet and missing a 6-footer for par on the first extra hole.
"They say you learn more from your losses than your wins," Garcia said after closing with a 72. ``And I've got a lot from this week to learn.''
Singh, Garcia and Furyk all finished at 12-under 276, four shots better than anyone else.
Singh's victory overshadowed a gritty performance by Furyk, who birdied two of his last three holes to get into the playoff, including a 7-footer on the 18th.
Singh played away from the flag and into the bunker, but blasted out to a foot and tapped in for an unlikely victory.
He joined Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson as the only three-time winners on the PGA Tour this year, one that never looked possible until Garcia couldn't make a putt, then couldn't hit a fairway.
Spectacular as ever, the 42-year-old Fijian applied enormous pressure with a 12-foot par putt on the ninth, then four straight birdies to start the back nine that gave him a two-shot lead.
But Singh flubbed a chip behind the par-5 15th, turning birdie into bogey, and needed more help from Garcia to get into a playoff. The 25-year-old Spaniard delivered, taking on the pin at the peninsula-green 17th. His 7-iron caromed off the bank and into the water.
Furyk also closed with a 66 and was flawless from tee-to-green, costing himself only by missing three birdie putts inside 12 feet on the back nine.
Singh likely won't earn enough points to replace Woods at No. 1 in the world, although he'll get that chance next week in the Byron Nelson Championship.
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