Kevin Na loves Las Vegas and not only because he lives there.
The 36-year-old Na made a four-foot par putt on the second playoff hole to turn back Patrick Cantlay and claim a fourth PGA Tour victory, his second in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open at TPC Summerlin http://tpc.com/summerlin in Vegas.
“It came down to the end and it was too close because I had the lead and made a triple-bogey,” said Na, who drove wildly and three-putted the 10th green for a 7. “But I’m a fighter and came back with three birdies plus that big (22-foot) par putt at 17.
“I knew I still had a chance, even though I’ve failed a lot of times. I’ve lost three times in playoffs and this is the first one that I won. It feels amazing to win here again. I love the course, I play well here and the fans are great. Vegas strong!”
Na, who left Diamond Bar High before his senior year to turn pro in 2001, recorded three birdies on each nine in a closing 1-under-par 70 after shooting 62-61 in the middle rounds and finished even with Cantlay at 23-under 261.
The seventh-ranked Cantlay, 27, from Los Alamitos and UCLA, shot 68 but after both players birdied the first extra hole he three-putted from about 50 feet—missing a five-footer for par that left the door open for Na.
“I made a good stroke on that (par) putt, but it broke more than I thought it would,” said Cantlay, who has two PGA Tour victories. “The first putt was just really slow and I left it short. I played really well but hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in. … I’ll take a lot out of this week.”
Pat Perez of San Diego carded a 68 and was two strokes back in third, while 10th-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, the defending champion, had five birdies on the back nine in a 63 to wind up three down in a tie for fourth with Brian Stuard, who had a 67, and Adam Hadwin of Canada, who had four birdies on each nine in a 63.
Webb Simpson, who won the 2012 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, totaled 68 and was one more back in a tie for seventh with Brian Gay, who wound up at 67.
Lucas Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, closed with a 70 to finish five strokes behind in a tie for ninth with Joel Dahmen, who posted a 68, and Tony Finau and Denny McCarthy, who both came in at 68.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland recorded a 69 to finished in a tie for 55th that included three-time Las Vegas winner Jim Furyk, who had a 70, while Phil Mickelson, playing in Las Vegas for the first time since 2005, shot 67 to finish 61st.
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