A day after blowing a lead with a triple bogey on the final hole, Will MacKenzie birdied the par-5 18th three times in a row to win the Viking Classic in a playoff for his second US PGA Tour victory on Sunday.
“We came here to win, and we won,” said MacKenzie, six strokes back on No. 11.
A free spirit who dropped out of golf for almost 10 years and lived in his van for five, MacKenzie beat Marc Turnesa on the second playoff hole after Brian Gay dropped out on the first extra hole. He stayed alive with a two-putt birdie from 59 feet, while Turnesa sank an 11-footer.
PHOTO: AFP
At the second extra hole, MacKenzie hit the green in two and Turnesa needed three shots. MacKenzie two-putted from 63 feet for another birdie, and won when Turnesa missed his 18-footer.
“I wasn’t going to let my blunder yesterday get me down,” MacKenzie said.
MacKenzie, who lost the third-round lead after a triple bogey on 18 that included a two penalty strokes, birdied three of the last four holes of regulation for a 4-under 68 to match Turnesa (70) and Gay (68) at 19-under 269.
Also the 2006 Reno-Tahoe Open winner, MacKenzie earned US$648,000.
Turnesa took the lead into the par-4 17th, but dropped back with a double bogey.
“I played well most of the day until that 17th hole,” Turnesa said. “I made a mistake there that cost me the tournament.”
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