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Rory Sabbatini wins Colonial in playoff

South African Rory Sabbatini dons the winner's jacket at the Colonial Golf Tournament after outlasting Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer in a playoff on Sunday in Fort Worth, Texas. PHOTO: AP

South African Rory Sabbatini dropped a 5m birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the US PGA Colonial tournament on Sunday, beating veterans Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk.

Sabbatini fittingly made his winning stroke in a downpour at an event that was halted the first three days by showers, forcing the entire field to finish the third round in the morning before fighting to an early evening conclusion.

It was Masters runner-up Sabbatini's fourth career PGA title and his first since capturing last year's Nissan Open title at Riviera.

"It was just a great week," Sabbatini said. "It feels so good. I had a lot of friends here. Thank goodness I pulled through so we can celebrate."

Third-ranked US star Furyk, the only top-12 player in the event, missed a long birdie effort in the playoff, the third trip to the 18th hole for each man on the day.

Sabbatini followed with his clutch putt, watching it all the way into the hole.

"About four feet to go, I knew there was pretty much no chance of that putt missing," Sabbatini said. "When I looked up and saw that, it was a good feeling.

"There are very few things in life that, to me, are as amazing as when you hit a putt and know you hit it on the line, you want it to and you see it go right in the middle of the hole."

When German star Langer, who turns 50 in August, slid his 3m birdie bid just right of the cup, the US$1.08 million top prize went to Sabbatini.

"I never trust Bernard over a putt because chances are he is going to make it," Sabbatini said. "When he is standing over a putt to make a go of extra holes I'm never counting him out. I was actually a little shocked to see it slide by the right edge ... there is a lot of relief there."

Langer, a two-time Masters champion, was impressed with Sabbatini's final stroke.

"Rory made a great putt," Langer said. "He was quite a bit further away than me and hit it right in the middle of the hole. I looked at the putt and felt very comfortable with my read ... but I pushed it."

Furyk, Sabbatini and Langer each finished 72 holes on 14-under par 266 after firing final-round 67s in the afternoon.

Sabbatini completed an impressive 62, eight-under par, in the third round on Sunday morning to pull into the lead logjam after three rounds with Furyk, Langer and US veteran Scott Verplank, who finished on 270 after a closing 71.

Langer, playing on a sponsor's exemption, has not won a PGA event since the 1993 Masters but showed he still has what it takes to be competitive.

"I'm disappointed I didn't win, but I'm encouraged with my game," Langer said.

"It's the best I've played for a while and that's very encouraging," he said.

"I wasn't trying to think about [the long win drought]," he said.

"I tried to focus on the next shot, on the game, and just played as good as I can and as hard as I can and see where we stand at the end," he said. "Most of the day I succeeded with that."
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