Long-hitting Tony Finau birdied the third extra hole to beat Steve Marino in a playoff at the Puerto Rico Open on Sunday.
Finau, 26, clinched his first PGA Tour victory, in his second full season on the PGA Tour.
He shot a closing 70 to finish regulation locked with Marino (70) at 12-under-par 276, one stroke ahead of Mexico’s Rodolfo Cazaubon (68) and third-round leader Ian Poulter of England, who carded 72.
Finau played his final eight holes in two-over in windy conditions at the Trump International Golf Club Puerto Rico to allow Marino extra holes.
They played the par-five 18th three times in the playoff. Both players birdied the first two times, but Marino could not match Finau’s birdie on the third try, when the latter got up and down from a greenside bunker, while Marino’s putt from just outside four feet missed to the right.
“I learned a lot being in contention [at several tournaments] last year,” Finau told PGATour.com. “I learned you have to take the good with the bad.”
“I’m proud of the way I stuck in there and happy I made that last putt when I needed to,” he added.
Marino remained winless in 182 starts on the PGA Tour.
Poulter, winless in four years, closed with 13 consecutive pars and missed an 18-foot birdie putt at the last to narrowly miss out on the playoff.
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