Jay Haas blew a five-stroke lead in the final round, saving his best for a playoff in the Toshiba Classic.
The 62-year-old Haas became the second-oldest winner in PGA Tour Champions history when he hit a brilliant chip shot to set up a one-foot birdie putt that beat Bart Bryant on the first extra hole at Newport Beach Country Club.
“Just to win, to know that I can do it again at 62 is pretty amazing,” said Haas, who claimed his 18th title on the senior circuit, also having won at Newport Beach in 2007.. “At 60, when I won the last time, I thought that’s pretty good.
“I wouldn’t have thought I would still be playing golf in a tournament competitively at 60, but still doing this out here. This course sets up nice for me and I was able to take advantage of it.”
Haas, who opened with bogey-free rounds of 64 and 63, closed with a 1-under-par 70 and finished even with Bryant, who shot 64, but after taking the lead with a 50-foot birdie putt at No. 17, he three-putted for a bogey on the final hole of regulation with a chance to win.
On the playoff hole, Bryant drove into the trees on the left and hit his second shot onto the balcony of a club suite. After taking a drop, he chipped over the green before finally getting onto the putting surface, but missed a long birdie putt.
That left Haas to tap-in for the victory, which left him behind only Mike Fetchick, who won the 1985 Hilton Head Seniors Invitational winner when he was 63.
Larry Mize posted a bogey-free 65 and finished two strokes back in a tie for third with Billy Andrade, who birdied the final hole for a 66.
Kevin Sutherland of Sacramento and Fresno State birdied three of the last four holes for a 66 and was another shot behind in a tie for fifth with Mike Goodes, who eagled the ninth hole in a bogey-free 63, Todd Hamilton, who eagled the final hole for a 64, and Fred Funk, who had two late birdies in a 68.
