Glover wins one-hole playoff over Byrd
CHARLOTTE - Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd competed in an all-Clemson one-hole playoff to decide the Wells Fargo Championship, and it was Glover who came out on top. Glover parred the first extra hole after Byrd bogeyed, to earn his third win on the PGA Tour and first since the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage Black in New York. While Byrd made a dramatic birdie at the final hole in regulation to force the playoff, Glover, playing in the penultimate pairing just in front of Byrd, made an impressive par just minutes before to finish at 15 under 273 and set the target score.
After hitting a poor tee shot off the 18th tee that was so far left it missed the creek that runs along the fairway on that side all the way to the green, Glover had a little help from a fan. His ball actually came to rest behind a spectator sitting on the hill that looks down onto the creek and fairway.
The ball rested behind the fans left back pocket and tour rules official Tony Wallin was on hand to guide Glover through the proper steps before he hit his second shot. Wallin told Glover to mark the ball while the fan stayed seated and see what it did.
Glover marked, the ball was still oscillating, but it settled in and seemed like it wouldn’t move again. It was then that Glover got some great advice.
“Be careful with that one,” Wallin warned Glover. “Don’t ground your club because it’s kind of tight.”
Glover heeded the warning and told Wallin he was not going to ground his club in case there was any kind of incident that could ultimately lead to a penalty, without saying as much. Just a week earlier in New Orleans, Webb Simpson fell victim to the rule book and was accessed a penalty when a ball moved on the green after he’d grounded his putter. He would have probably earned his first tour win were it not for the penalty stroke, but instead went on to lose in a one-hole playoff to Bubba Watson.
After Glover settled his feet and was in his pre-shot waggle, the ball started rolling down the hill. Both his caddie and Wallin recognized he hadn’t grounded his club and he simply played the ball where it had come to rest, about five feet down the hill. It allowed a better stance, but it was a worse lie.
Glover’s best finish of the year, prior to the win, was a T20 at the Transitions Championship in March. He had missed the cut in his last three starts coming in, so, his confidence level wasn’t at an all-time high. However, when asked if he came into the week thinking he could win, he was quick to answer.
“Yes,” he said. “I have to believe that. You know, 156 guys are tied on Thursday morning, and I have to believe and believe in myself enough to know that even though my long game isn't there or short game isn't there, whatever, that something is going to come through. When I quit believing that, then it's probably time to hang them up. So that's -- expectations to play great or to play good doesn't always mean you're going to win, but I have to think that way so I'll prepare properly.”
As it turned out, Byrd’s preparation for his birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force the playoff came on Tuesday.
“We had a match on Tuesday where Lucas and I paired up against Charles Warren and Davis Love,” Byrd said. “We played 18 holes, and I had a putt on the last hole to halve the match from about 15 feet, and I wanted to make that putt just as bad as I wanted to make that putt in regulation. I told my caddie Adam walking up, I said, ‘It's just like that putt we made on Tuesday, when I birdied 18 in regulation;’ I said, ‘Let's make it again.’ So it was just the same process, you know, and I felt just as good walking off the green on Tuesday as I did today.”
Byrd and Glover had played hundreds of rounds together, so they were comfortable with each other in the playoff. They were teammates for three years at Clemson and have known each other since their junior golf in South Carolina.
They had never been in a playoff before, but Byrd recalled some prior duels.
“In the South Carolina State Amateur one year we dueled it out all 18 holes one year,” he said. “He won three years in a row, so obviously same outcome; Lucas won then. Lucas won today. But we didn't have a playoff, but we kind of dueled it out all day. We were right next to each other, and he won by one.”
Rory Sabbatini had the best round on Sunday, a 7 under 65, and finished alone in third at minus-14. Bill Haas was fourth at 13 under, Kevin Na fifth at minus-12, and Zach Johnson, Bobby Gates and Pat Perez were another shot back and tied for sixth.
Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Stewart Cink were in a group of seven players finishing T9 and rounding out the top-10. They all finished at 10 under par.
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