Rookie Brandt Snedeker won for the first time on the US PGA Tour, shooting a 9-under 63 for a two-stroke victory at the Wyndham Championship on Sunday.
Snedeker finished at 22-under 266 and earned US$900,000.
Tim Petrovic (67) -- who was tied with Snedeker with two holes to play -- joined Jeff Overton (70) and Billy Mayfair (67) two strokes back.
PHOTO: AFP
Carl Pettersson (68) -- a member of the tournament's board -- finished three strokes behind Snedeker, who joined Shigeki Maruyama (2003) and K.J. Choi (2005) as recent winners at 22 under at a Greensboro course dominated all week by high temperatures and low scores.
Snedeker and Petrovic were tied at 21 heading into the final two holes, and a playoff seemed a real possibility until Snedeker made his move on the par-3 17th.
He hit his 3-iron 9.8m from the flagstick -- a shot that "under the pressure, probably was the best swing of my life," Snedeker said -- to set up the clutch birdie putt.
"I knew I was going to have to birdie one of the last two to give myself a chance," he said. "The way the scores were going, everybody was getting birdies everywhere."
Petrovic, playing two groups behind him, landed his tee shot about 21m from the hole but missed his birdie attempt and tapped in from about 60cm for par.
"I knew what I had to do. Everybody was out here making birdies today, so I wasn't mad, I wasn't shocked," Petrovic said. "I was just kind of ready to go and do my own thing."
Snedeker then closed his round with an uneventful par on No. 18, while Petrovic sent his drive into the woods on the left side of the fairway and wound up finishing with a bogey.
"A guy shoots 63, you've got to take your hat off to him -- he won it, I didn't lose it," Petrovic said.
Petrovic was denied his second career victory and first since 2005 when he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.
Snedeker was at 18 under before a late run of three consecutive birdies thrust him up the leaderboard, and that string was capped with one on the par-5 No. 15.
Overton -- who led after the second and third rounds and entered with a three-stroke lead -- fell off the pace after early trouble and was briefly overtaken before he rejoined the pack with a 13m birdie putt on the par-4 11th.
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