Winning is twice as nice for Woody Austin, who picked up his second victory of the season on the PGA TOUR Champions after outlasting Wes Short Jr. in a two-hole playoff to capture the 2016 Mitsubishi Electric Classic. Earlier this year, Austin won the Tucson Conquistadores Classic by one shot.
Austin fired a tournament record eight-under 64 to finish at -11.
After Austin and Short Jr. both made par on the first playoff hole, they returned to the No. 18 tee for a second playoff hole. Short Jr. pushed his tee shot left into the trees and struggled to recover, enabling Austin to play conservatively and make par on his second try, clinching the victory.
“I was in a perfect spot but just a bad number for my bag,” said Austin. “I either had a club that could just barely clear the water or I had a club that could hit it in the back bunker. I didn’t have a club that could hit it on the green unless I did something with it. And I didn’t want to give him his shot back by trying to be so cute just to get it on the green. So I felt like if I laid up there and just played him mano a mano with a one‑shot lead, I liked my chances. So I kind of played that a little conservative, but the way he played it is what made me play conservative.”
Final Leaderboard
1. Woody Austin 72-69-64—205/-11
2. Wes Short Jr. 70-67-68—205/-11
3. Paul Goydos 71-68-67—206/-10
T4. Joey Sindelar 70-70-67—207/-9
T4. Tom Lehman 73-67-67—207/-9
T4. Miguel Angel Jimenez 72-67-68—207/-9
T4. Colin Montgomerie 72-66-69—207/-9
Inside The Ropes With Austin
Austin’s record-tying round equaled a pair of 64s shot in 2015 by Olin Browne and Bernhard Langer.
Austin led all players during tournament week in greens in regulation (81.5 percent).
The Derby, Kan., resident was a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR with his most recent victory came at the 2013 Sanderson Farms Championship. At the time, he was the eighth-oldest winner in PGA TOUR history at 49 years, five months and 25 days.
This and That
Much like Saturday, playing conditions also were favorable to low scoring. In addition’s to Austin’s record-tying round, Sandy Lyle fired a seven-under 65, Duluth’s Scott Dunlap turned a six-under 66 and eight others fired a five-under 67.
Tom Watson rebounded from his four-over 76 on Saturday with a four-under 68 in the final round, helping him finish four-under for the event and T17.
Bernhard Langer saw a streak of five consecutive Top 10 finishes come to an end Sunday when he finished T11. Langer was the only player on the PGA TOUR Champions to have a Top 10 finish in the first five event of the year.
The ninth hole was the most difficult for the tournament with a scoring average of 4.362, yielding just 16 birdies for the week. However, No 8 was the most difficult to birdie for the event with just 14. The easiest hold was No. 13 at 3.634 with four eagles and 92 birdies.
Thank You!
The Mitsubishi Electric Classic is only possible through the support of our sponsors, 600 volunteers and fans. We appreciate your generosity, dedication and hard work each year. We’ll see you all again in 2017!