PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) — Vaughn Taylor closed with a 4-under 68 and made a 10-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole Sunday to defeat Alex Cejka in the Constellation Furyk & Friends, his first PGA Tour Champions title and his first victory anywhere in more than 10 years.
Taylor was losing ground at Hammock Beach until he began the back nine with five straight birdies and was tied for the lead with Michael Wright. But as nerves kicked in, Taylor three-putted the 17th and thought his chances were dwindling.
Wright, in the group ahead, pulled his approach from a fairway bunker into the seaside vegetation down the left of the 18th, eventually making a double bogey. Cejka already had holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a 65 and was the first to post at 17-under 271.
Cejka figured that might get him second place — two players were ahead of them and playing the final few holes — and he already had showered and changed clothes when it was time to rush off to the range to warm up again.
Taylor joined him with a two-putt par on the 18th. Taylor and Cejka both missed birdie chances on the 18th in the playoff, and the second time around the 50-year-old Taylor hit 7-iron to 10 feet, made the putt and clinched his fist.
The last of his three PGA Tour titles came in 2016, a one-shot victory over Phil Mickelson in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Taylor had limited status this year and, still struggling to recover from an ailing hip that limited him in his final few years on the PGA Tour, started to wonder how much longer he could play. The victory changes his outlook. Taylor now is exempt through the 2027 season.
Wright shot 69 with the double bogey and finished alone in third. Angel Cabrera closed with a 67 and was among five players who finished another shot behind.
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