Ernie Els successfully defended his title at the Sony Open, but he was made to fight every inch of the way before he claimed victory with a 22-foot birdie at the third play-off hole to beat Harrison Frazar.
Frazar could have, and really should have won in regulation with a 2-putt birdie at the par-five 18th, but Els sank a clutch 10-footer to force extra holes.
Els shot a closing 65 and Frazar a 66 to tie at 18-under 262, three shots ahead of Davis Love III, who claimed his his second top-10 finish of the season, one stroke ahead of Frank Lickliter II (68). Jerry Kelly and Briny Baird tied for fifth place on 267, 13 under.
The South African ace became the first player to win the event two years in a row since Corey Pavin in 1986-87, picking up £480,000 for his victory, and was delighted with his display. ""I felt good going into today. I felt my swing was coming around," he said.
All week, I was quite patient. Coming into today, I knew I had to get off to a pretty solid start, just kind of play myself into the round. I actually had a number in my mind to try and shoot 64 because it was really calm again," he added.
"I can get better. I mean, look at 15 today. You three-putt when you shouldn't three-putt. Then, you make it really hard on yourself. There's still things I can improve on, and I want to improve on, and those kind of things I can't do trying to win a major championship. So, I've got to keep grinding away."
Filed by Rob Wright
