Thompson edges Morland in OT to claim New Zealand PGA  PGA TOUR Staff CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand -- Nicholas Thompson tapped in a short par putt on the first hole of a playoff Sunday to beat David Morland IV and win the HSBC New Zealand PGA Championship at Clearwater Resort. The two players shot identical weekend rounds of 70-68 and wound up tied at 8-under 280 to get into the playoff in the event co-sanctioned by the Nationwide Tour and the Australasian PGA Tour.  Nicholas Thompson was among the very best in hitting greens all week. (Steve Grayson/WireImage)
Morland put together a bogey-free final round and posted his score first and then watched as Thompson rallied with birdies on his final two holes to send them back to the 445-yard, par-4 18th hole. In the playoff, Morland went from fairway bunker to greenside bunker and eventually missed a 15-foot par putt. Thompson was nearly perfect from the middle of the fairway and onto the green, where he two-putted for par for his first career win. "It feels wonderful," said Thompson, who made it a point to thank his parents for all they've done for him before the media asked any questions. "I wasn't nervous at all today. I was swinging good and I played so well on the last 11 holes. I had a look (for birdie) on every one of them." Sunday's final round featured a clustered leaderboard that had as many as four players sharing the lead with only four holes to go, but it was Morland and Thompson who gained the edge with late birdies. "One of the big keys to this golf course is that you've got to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens," said Thompson, who finished fifth and second this week, respectively, in those categories. "I drove it exceptionally well this week. I played a lot of good golf this week." As well as he played, the Florida resident knew he was at least one shot back and maybe two as he walked up the 16th fairway and guessed that 8 under was going to be the key number. He stuffed a wedge to within 6 feet on No. 17 and then an 8-iron to within 4 feet on the 18th and canned both birdie putts. "For nerves, you couldn't have had two better putts," he said. "They were both up the hill and inside the hole. You put a good stroke on it and you can't miss." Michael Letzig shot a final-round 65 and finished at 7-under 281 about 90 minutes before the final groups finished up and looked like he might be included in any extra holes that might be needed to determine a winner. Lee Williamson held the outright lead before he suffered a bogey at the 71st hole and then missed a potential tying chip on the closing hole. Williamson ended the day with a 69 and shared third with fellow Tour rookie Letzig. Australian James Nitties (71-282) was alone in fifth, two back. Jason Day, Mark Brown, Sal Spallone and third-round leader Ryan Howison (73) tied for sixth, three behind. Thompson will have little time to savor his first professional win. He was scheduled to be on a plane less than three hours after he finished up with the awards ceremony and heading back to the United States, where he would attempt to Monday qualify for this week's PGA TOUR event, The Honda Classic, back in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "It's my hometown event," he said. "I have to be in that field!" Fourth-Round Notes: Sunday's final round was played under mostly sunny skies with temperatures in the low 70s...The final-round scoring average was 71.706, which left the cumulative average for the four days at 73.265. Copyright 2007 PGATOUR.com. All rights reserved. |
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