In a playoff for the first time on the PGA Tour, K.J. Choi conquered an island green and more pressure than he can remember Sunday to win The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
He won’t forget the way it ended — and neither will David Toms.
Toms went from narrowly missing an 18-foot birdie putt for the win on the 17th hole at the TPC Sawgrass to missing a 31/2-foot comeback putt for par, handing Choi the biggest win of his career.
On a hole that is designed to provide great theater, the finish fell a little flat.
Moments earlier, Toms hit his best shot from a divot in the 18th fairway and made an 18-foot birdie putt — only the fourth birdie on that hole in the final round — that got him into a playoff.
Then came the sudden-death playoff at one of the most famous par 3s in the world. Toms looked to have the advantage when his shot settled 18 feet away and Choi was across the green.
But the South Korean hit a lag to just inside 3 feet that he ultimately tapped in for his eighth career PGA Tour win, and his first in three years.
Toms said his short putt was uphill and into the Bermuda grain, and he knew it had to be hit solidly.
“I kind of hit it on the toe and didn’t get it rolling, and when I looked up it was left,” he said. “It was just a bad putt. No excuses, no spike marks, no ball marks, no nothing. Maybe a lot of pressure. But other than that, there was no excuse.”
Both Choi and Toms closed with 2-under 70s for 12-under 275 totals.
CLARKE WINS
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke rallied from four shots down to win the Iberdrola Open by three strokes in Sono Servera, Spain. He shot 1-under 69 for his first European Tour title since 2008.
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