Furyk Gets It Right in Playoff

Given another chance in a playoff at the Wachovia Championship, Jim Furyk finished the job Sunday.

A hard-luck loser in a four-hole playoff last year, Furyk made an eight-foot par putt to force extra holes against Trevor Immelman of South Africa, then made a six-footer for par on No. 18 in the playoff to win and erase bad memories at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C.

But he needed some help from the 26-year-old South African. Immelman had to two-putt from 50 feet on the 18th hole in regulation to get his first PGA Tour victory but ran the putt 10 feet by and missed the par putt. Then in the playoff, he hit his tee shot into a miserable lie in the right rough, had to lay up 80 yards short of the green and saw his wedge spin off the front. The best he could do was get up-and-down for bogey.

Furyk, who had a one-shot lead going into a rainy final round, closed with a one-under-par 71 and earned $1.134 million for the 11th victory of his career, and one that might be enough to move him into the top five in the world rankings.

It also ended a spell of close calls, including a runner-up finish in his last start three weeks ago at Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Furyk found the bunker off the tee in the playoff but ripped a three-iron at the flag and it rolled just off the green. Electing to use putter, he ran it six feet by, and made the par try -- thrusting his fist into the air before the ball even reached the cup.

“It’s nice to come out and get it done this time,� Furyk said.

A year ago, Furyk closed with a 66 to make up six shots on Sergio Garcia and join a three-man playoff that included Vijay Singh. Furyk twice had birdie putts to win, then hit into the creek on the 18th hole -- his third time playing that hole.

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Cristie Kerr overcame a four-stroke deficit to win her seventh LPGA Tour title, closing with a five-under 67 for a two-stroke victory over Lorena Ochoa, Pat Hurst and Angela Stanford in the Franklin American Mortgage Championship in Franklin, Tenn.

Kerr had five birdies in her bogey-free round to finish with a tournament-record 19-under 269 total on the Vanderbilt Legends Club’s Ironhorse Course. Kerr broke the mark of 17 under set by Annika Sorenstam in 2002, and matched the lowest score on tour this year, Ochoa’s 19 under in the 54-hole Takefuji Classic.

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Brad Bryant won the Regions Charity Classic for his second Champions Tour victory of the year, closing with an eagle, birdie and a par for an eight-under 64 and a two-stroke victory over Mark McNulty at Hoover, Ala.

Bryant hovered within striking distance with a bogey-free tournament before finally overtaking McNulty on No. 17. Bryant finished with a 17-under-199 total and earned $240,000 for his second victory in his last four starts.

McNulty, who led by three shots through 15 holes, sent his second shot into the water on No. 17 for the second day in a row and made a double bogey.

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Michelle Wie shot a two-over 74 to finish out of title contention at the shortened SK Telecom Open, where she made the cut in a men’s tournament for the first time.

The Hawaiian-born teenager had two birdies and four bogeys at the Sky 72 Golf Club course in Incheon, South Korea, for a 54-hole, three-under 213 -- 12 strokes behind winner Prom Meesawat of Thailand.

“I did my best, but the result was not as satisfying as I would have liked,� said the 16-year-old Wie said. “But the most important thing is that I tried my best.�