Kenny Perry sank a nine-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday, edging Bernhard Langer to take the win at the AT&T Championship held on the TPC San Antonio-ATT Canyons golf course in San Antonio, TX.
Perry, who held at least a share of the lead after each of the three rounds, closed the final round with a five-under 67, as did Langer. Each finished 54 holes tied at 13-under-par 203. The overtime win capped a wild final round that started in rainy, breezy conditions and finished in brilliant sunshine.
“When it got ugly out there, I was making birdies,” Perry said. Birdies and putts, too, plenty of putts.
The biggest of all came on No. 18 in regulation when Perry overcame an errant approach shot to sink an 18-footer that hung on the lip and fell in to save par and force the playoff.
On the extra hole, Langer's Langer pushed his second shot over the green and into the right rough, and he followed with a chip shot to within eight feet of the pin. Perry placed his second shot nine feet away and then calmly sank birdie-putt to claim the $285,000 top prize for a Tour best third title of the season.
Fitting end for the tournament with the top two players on the Champions Tour this season trading birdie for birdie, shot for shot, with the title on the line, in a duel down the stretch on the final day. In the end, it was Perry, the top player on the Charles Schwab Cup points list, beating Langer, the leading money winner,
“It's funny how the stars aligned,” Perry said. “You couldn't script it any better than that.”
For Langer, the loss was eerily reminiscent of last year's AT&T Championship when he lost on the first playoff hole to David Frost.
“Today I don't feel all that bad,” said Langer, who also lost in a playoff to Mark Wiebe in the Senior British Open in July. “I played some really good golf and kept my emotions in check. It turned out one person in the field beat me in a playoff. Not much you can do about that.”
Second-round co-leader Colin Montgomerie started quickly with four consecutive birdies and on five of first six holes, but then faltered, finishing with a three-under 69 to end up in third-place tie at 11-under with Kirk Triplett (68) and Fred Funk (67).
Anders Forsbrand (71), Russ Cochran (69) and John Riegger (67) tied for sixth at nine-under 207.
Perry, Langer and Montgomerie were tied for the lead with Mike Goodes and Forsbrand after 36 holes. But when Goodes and Forsbrand began to fade Sunday, it quickly became a three-man race.
Montgomerie struggled on the back nine, however, with bogeys on 10, 13 and 14. He rallied with back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17, but another bogey on 18 sealed his fate.
“Talk about a roller coaster,” the Champions Tour rookie said.
Perry prevailed on the strength of his putter. He decided to go back to using the one with which he captured back-to-back majors over the summer. The change paid off handsomely.
“The putter saved me,” Perry said. “The putt on 18 was probably the biggest of my career.”
Perry now heads to Harding Park this week as the undisputed points leader of the Champions Tour. He extended his lead in the Charles Schwab Cup from 494 to 612 points entering the season-ending Schwab Cup Championship.
The top 30 on the money list qualified for the finale, though Perry and Langer are the only players with a shot at the $1 million annuity for the points title.