Kevin Kisner chipped in for eagle from 95 feet on the 18th hole as darkness closed in, lifting him and teammate Scott Brown into a playoff with Jonas Blixt of Sweden and Cameron Smith of Australia in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La.
The four will return Monday morning for the playoff in the first stroke-play team event on the PGA Tour since 1981..
“I just didn’t want to leave it short,” Kisner (pictured) said of his miracle shot. “(Brown) hit a great shot to within two or three feet, so I knew we had a good chance for birdie, and I just wanted to hit it hard enough to give it a chance.
“We have good vibes out there. We’ve been playing well all week and we putted really good today.”
Kisner and Brown, who have both won once on the PGA Tour, carded a 12-under-par 60 in the best-ball format, while Blixt and Smith wound up at 64 in the final round, which was delayed in the middle of the day for more than six hours by thunderstorms.
Smith made a two-foot birdie putt on the last hole and both teams finished at 27-under 261.
Blixt and Smith, alone in the lead after the second and third rounds, were the only team not to make a bogey through 72 holes, but Brown and Kisner took the lead by starting the final round with eight straight birdies and 10 on the first 11 holes.
However, Blixt made a five-foot birdie on the 16th hole to tie for the lead and Smith put them ahead with a three-foot birdie putt in the 17th.
When Smith hit his approach to within two feet on the last it appeared the tournament was over, until Kisner holed his shot in the dark.
“You have to expect the unexpected,” said Blixt, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. “We have another shot at it tomorrow, and we just have to leave this behind and try to go out there and make birdie or eagle on 18 tomorrow and try to win this tournament.”
Kelly Kraft sank a 22-foot eagle putt on the last hole to give him and Kevin Tway a 61 that left them four strokes back in solo third, while Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer had a bogey-free 64 that put them another shot back in fourth.
Chase Koepka holed out for an eagle from 51 feet and he and his brother Brooks shot 62 to wind up eight back in a tie for fifth with Bubba Watson-J.B. Holmes (64), Argentines Angel Cabrera-Julian Etulain (65), Charley Hoffman-Nick Watney (68), Justin Thomas-Bud Cauley (61), Xander Schauffele-Tag Ridings (65) and Jason Dufner-Patton Kizzire (63).
