Coceres wins sudden-death thriller
April 16, 2001
GolfWeb Wire Services
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. -- Jose Coceres needed three additional holes and a little luck Monday to beat Billy Mayfair in a playoff at the WORLDCOM CLASSIC for his first PGA TOUR title.
Jose Coceres clinches his first PGA TOUR victory as Billy Mayfair looks on. (AP)
Coceres missed a short par putt for victory on the 18th hole, then saved par from a bunker on the 17th before a dramatic recovery from the marsh alongside the closing lighthouse hole.
Coceres and Mayfair played two playoff holes Sunday before darkness forced a postponement until Monday.
"It was quite an opportunity to finish it off," Coceres said through an interpreter. "I am very happy."
The Argentine earned $630,000 and a two-year TOUR exemption.
After Mayfair missed a 6-footer for par the second time the pair played No. 18, Coceres rolled in his 5-footer for par. He punched the air to the cheers of an unusually large crowd on a cool morning.
Coceres held up a hand-made sign to the stands that said, "For my family and my friends and for all the Argentineans, a million thanks."
Mayfair, who won the 1998 Nissan Open over Tiger Woods in a playoff, had his chances, too.
He put a 4-iron within about 15 feet on the par-3 17th, but missed the straight birdie putt. Coceres flubbed a chip from the bunker alongside the green to the fringe, then stuck the 12-footer to keep the playoff going one more hole.
Coceres hit a low liner that moved left the final time the two played the 18th, landing in a marshy hazard. But his chip was true, settling about 5 feet away. Mayfair was on the green in two about 25 feet away. He charged the putt, however, blowing it 6 feet past and missing the comebacker.
"The wind was keeping everything short so I guess I didn't want that to happen" on the putt, said Mayfair, who earned $378,000.
Coceres looked ready to win on the duo's first hole. But his putt of less than 3 feet for par did not go in. Mayfair made bogey after missing a 6-footer.
The 43-minute playoff capped a wild finish at Harbour Town Golf Links, where both Coceres and Mayfair had chances to win Sunday.
Mayfair had birdies on the fifth, sixth and eighth holes and was at 13 under, two shots ahead of a faltering Coceres. Then Mayfair drove out of bounds on the par-4 11th, leading to a double bogey.
Both players, though, made the critical shots down the stretch. Mayfair was the first to 11 under when he rolled in a 30-footer for birdie on No. 16. Then he saved par from a back bunker with a 15-foot putt on the 18th to stay there.
Coceres hit a wedge to 2 feet on the 16th hole for a birdie to catch Mayfair.
The two agreed not to move to the third playoff hole, the 18th, even though about 15 minutes of light remained.
"When you can't see, you can't see," Mayfair said.
The playoff was stopped Sunday evening after two holes, where the two matched pars.
It was the first Monday finish at Harbour Town since Doug Tewell beat Jerry Pate in a playoff in 1980.
© The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
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