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Russell Henley birdied the final three holes to force a playoff with Eric Cole, then made it four in a row with a five-footer on the first extra hole to win the Charles Schwab Classic.
Henley’s late surge denied fellow 37-year-old Cole his first PGA Tour victory on the day while Ben Griffin came just short of becoming the only player other than Ben Hogan to win back-to-back tournaments at the Colonial.
Henley earned $1.78 million (£1.32m) for his sixth PGA Tour title and also received a plaid jacket and a customized 1982 Jeep Scrambler car.
Playing in the group before the round, Henley closed with a three-under 67.
After making a 15-foot putt on the 171-yard 16th hole and a par-four 17, Henley made a 17-footer on the par-four 18th to move to 12 under.
Cole shot an even-par 70. He parred the final seven holes, including an eight playoff.
Henley and Cole Griffin (65) finished one stroke ahead of Alex Smalley (68) and Mack Meissner (69).
A drive for Henley and Cole on the extra hole, the 18th again stalled on the fairway – Cole got a huge break after his ball bounced off the left rough before settling on the edge of the short grass. Henley hit his approach shot first and Cole hit it to 13 feet and missed the birdie attempt.
Henley sank his five-footer for the title.
“I keep telling myself, I want to win. I want to make … I want to be here. I want to hit these putts and be in contention,” he said.
“That’s why I practice hard and, yeah, then to come back in the playoffs and do it, I’m still kind of shaking. It was as nervous as I’ve ever been to make a putt in my entire life.”
Cole, in his 120th PGA Tour start, never fell out of control during the final round, even when finishing on the front nine with his first double bogey (or worse) in 316 holes. He drove well into the right rough on the 398-yard ninth hole, hit his approach into the water in front of the green and had a long bogey chance to stop an inch from the cup.
His only birdie at the back was on the 628-yard 11th hole, but he had some notable par saves down the stretch.
“I’m proud of the way I played,” Cole said.
“I think I played hard for the most part, I drove the ball pretty well. I needed a shave somewhere. But, yeah, no, I’m proud of the way I played and it’s disappointing but I still feel good and happy with the way I played.”
‘I’ve calmed down a bit’ – how Henley managed the stormy ending
Henley started the day with an eagle on the 577-yard first hole and a birdie on the 390-yard second, but quickly gave those three shots back with bogeys on three, four and five – the aptly named Horrible Horseshoe at the Colonial. He had another bogey in ninth place, making the turn at eight under on the leaderboard.
“I was swinging a little bit or feeling something fast or forward and hitting something, well I was hitting the fairway, I was swinging some weak irons,” he said.
“So it’s very disappointing to go one over par. (His caddy) said, ‘Let’s reset,’ and I calmed down a little bit and started hitting some good shots, and it felt like I was hitting good putts most of the day and they went away.”
Defending champion Griffin, who started the day six strokes back after three consecutive rounds of 68, had five birdies on the front nine. But he didn’t have another until a 25-foot putt on the 17th hole to move to 11 under for third.
Gary Woodland tied for sixth with Michael Brennan, Nico Echavarria and JJ Spon after a final-round 67. England’s Jordan Smith was tied for 13th at eight under after a 68 on Sunday.
Next up is one of the biggest events of the PGA Tour season – the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Watch live on Sky Sports Golf from Thursday to Sunday. Get Sky Sports or Golf Stream with no contract
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