American Brandt Snedeker won The Heritage in a thrilling playoff with Luke Donald Sunday, denying the Briton the chance to become world number for the first time Monday. Snedeker clinched his second PGA Tour title at the third extra hole, the par-four 18th, where he safely parred after narrowly missing a birdie attempt from 15 feet.
Englishman Donald bogeyed the hole after hitting his approach into a greenside bunker from where he was unable to get up and down from a buried lie, lipping out with his par chip from the fringe. “It’s a storybook ending really, to be playing Luke in a playoff,” a beaming Snedeker, 30, told reporters. “To even have a chance to win was exciting to me. “I didn’t really have any expectations today, at all. I came out and just kind of everything clicked. I drove the ball fantastic, came up with a lot of birdie opportunities.”
In late afternoon sunshine at Harbour Town Golf Links, the first two playoff holes were halved in nerve-jangling fashion as Snedeker and Donald each began birdie, par.
Donald pumped his right fist in delight after sinking a downhill birdie putt from 12 feet at the first extra hole, also the 18th, before the American followed suit from 10 feet.
They both parred the short 17th, Donald getting up and down from the front greenside bunker and Snedeker two-putting from just off the green. The pair had finished the 72 regulation holes on 12-under-par 272, world number three Donald parring the last for a one-under 70 and Snedeker closing with a sizzling nine-birdie 64. American Tommy Gainey, bidding for his maiden PGA Tour victory, finished alone in third place at 11 under after closing with a 68.
“Hats off to Brandt,” Donald said after coming agonisingly close to a fourth victory on the PGA Tour. “He played a fantastic round today and I just came up a little short.
“Unfortunately both on the 72nd hole and that second playoff hole on 18, I got a little bit stuck in between clubs and didn’t hit great shots. “It was going to be some big rewards if I won today. But I’ll try and find the positives from this week and move on to next week.” Had Donald won, he would have replaced Germany’s Martin Kaymer as world number one when the new rankings are issued on Monday. Instead his fellow Briton Lee Westwood will take over at the top after winning the Indonesian Masters by three shots earlier Sunday. A stroke in front going into the final round, Donald slipped back early on to trail two different leaders — Snedeker and American Ricky Barnes — on a wildly fluctuating afternoon before regaining his poise on the back nine. He knocked in an 18-foot birdie putt at the 13th to draw level with Snedeker at 12 under and then narrowly missed a birdie opportunity from seven feet at the 16th to claim the outright lead. “I had a good chance there,” Donald said of his putt on 16. “I thought if I made that putt I could win the tournament.” The Briton again seemed to be in trouble at the last where his approach ended up in the front bunker but he coolly got up and down from there to take the tournament into a playoff. Snedeker, a distant six strokes off the pace after the third round, birdied five of the first seven holes before reaching the turn in six-under 30 to surge into title contention. Although he failed to maintain that red-hot momentum over the back nine, he knocked in a 12-footer to birdie the last and hold the clubhouse lead at 12 under. Snedeker then had to wait for almost two hours to see if he would be overhauled by any of the later starters. “That was the longest two hours of my life,” he said. “It was brutal.”
