Putting his forgettable year behind, Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland got a jump-start on 2016.
McDowell, who had only one top-10 finish in 2015, sank a three-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to beat Russell Knox of Scotland and Jason Bohn in a Monday finish at the rain-delayed OHL Classic at Mayakoba at El Camaleon Golf Club in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
“I hit as good of a 5-iron as I could hit,” McDowell said of his approach shot that grazed the cup on the extra hole. ” … You go through a year like this, you think, ‘Am I finished? Am I not good enough?’ You ask yourself all the questions.
“It’s the game of golf, and it’s very difficult. I’ve been dreaming of this day and I said that I was going to appreciate it when it came. So I’m going to appreciate this one, because this year has been a grind.”
G-Mac, who won the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, claimed his first victory since he successfully defended his title in the 2014 Alstom Open de France and his first on the PGA Tour since the 2012 RBC Heritage, in which he defeated Webb Simpson in a playoff.
McDowell closed with a 5-under 66, including an eight-foot par putt on the 18thl hole, but that left him one stroke behind Knox, who needed only a par on the final hole to go back-to-back after winning the WGC-HSBC Champions last week.
However, Knox pulled his tee shot into a bunker, left his approach shot short of the green and eventually missed a 12-foot par putt to finish with a 66 that put him in the playoff.
Bohn, seeking his third victory on the PGA Tour and first since the 2010 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, made par-saving putts on the last four of his last five holes to wind up at 68.
In the playoff, Knox missed the green with his approach and could not hole his birdie chip, and Bohn missed an 18-foot birdie putt before McDowell rolled in the winner.
Derek Fathauer, the 54-hole leader, birdied the last hole to finish a 71 and was two strokes back in solo fourth, while Scott Brown carded a second straight 68 to end up four shots back in a tie for fifth with Harold Varner III, who had a 70.
Brice Garnett was another shot back in seventh after a 69, while Keegan Bradley shot 66 to finish six shots back in a tie for eighth with Johnson Wagner, who came in at 71.
Patrick Rodgers of Stanford stumbled late by playing Nos. 15 and 16 in bogey-double bogey to card a 71, and wound up in a tie for 10th that included amateur Jon Rahm of Spain and Arizona State, who totaled 70, and Spencer Levin of Elk Grove, who had a 71.
