Final round: Palmer shatters six-way tie with birdie to win
PALM COAST, Fla. (AP) -- Ryan Palmer rallied from a rules mistake and pulled himself out of a seven-way tie to win the PGA TOUR Ginn sur Mer Classic on Sunday.
Palmer, who was at No. 143 on the money list with two tournaments remaining, had to call a penalty on himself and made bogey on the 10th hole, then took double bogey on the next hole with a tee shot into the water.
But he rebounded with a 10-foot birdie he desperately needed on the final hole at Ginn Ocean Hammock Resort for his second career victory.
"What a feeling ... what a week," said the 32-year-old native of Amarillo, Texas and Texas A&M graduate. "I kept grinding and grinding. I proved to myself that I can win out here under any kind of conditions or circumstances."
Michael Letzig, the 54-hole leader, needed a birdie on the par-5 18th to force a playoff. But his wedge spun 35 feet down the slope and he had to settle for par and a 73 to finish one shot behind.
Also tying for second were George McNeill, Nicholas Thompson, Ken Duke and Vaughn Taylor, who was at No. 129 on the money list and earned enough to secure his card for next year.
The final tournament next week is at Disney, and the top 125 keep full privileges for 2009.
The fourth round twice was suspended because of bad weather, which didn't help anyone break out of the pack. Seven players had at least a share of the lead at one point, and there was a six-way tie during the first stoppage in play.
Palmer appeared to have control with a two-shot lead until he reached the 10th green. He noticed his ball move slightly after he addressed his 30-foot birdie attempt, and after calling a rules official, assessed himself a one-shot penalty and made bogey.
"Once you address the ball, you can't un-address it," Tour rules official Steve Rintoul. "The rules are pretty clear."
Palmer pulled his next tee shot into the water for double bogey to fall out of the lead, but rejoined the back with an up-and-down from the bunker on the par-5 13th.
"I was playing too well to let that happen," he said. "I told my caddie that it was the same thing as hitting into a bunker and not getting up-and-down. We just made a bogey."
Palmer made pars the rest of the way, including a nervy two-putt from 40 feet on the 17th, then laid up on the closing hole and stuffed his wedge into 10 feet for the winning putt.
He finished at 7-under 281 and earned $828,000. It was the fifth time in six events during the Fall Series that a player outside the top 125 on the money list won a tournament. The exception was Zach Johnson, who was at No. 125 when he won in Texas.
As crowded as it was at the top, it could have been worse.
John Huston, at No. 168 on the money list, hit his tee shot into the water on the 16th and made bogey. Mark Wilson took two shots to get out of a greenside bunker on the 16th and made double bogey.
Robert Allenby, the runner-up at Turning Stone by one shot, had a chance to take the lead on the par-5 18th until he hit his wedge long and into a back bunker. He blasted out 40 feet long and wound up with a bogey.
Allenby and Huston were in the group at 5-under 283. That group included Brian Gay, who was at No. 33 on the money list and earned enough to move into the top 30, giving him a chance to earn his first trip to the Masters if he stays there after Disney.
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5, 613-yard 13th was easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.630.
The par-4, 467-yard 2nd was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.315.
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Ryan Palmer drained a birdie putt on the par-5 last to gain a one-stroke
lead and the victory over five guys tied for second at the Ginn Sur Mer Classic. 
Jeff Maggert played through the pain of the rain Sunday on his way to a bogey-free, 5-under 67, which moved him up 30 spots to a top-20 finish. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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GINN SUR MER CLASSIC: FINAL-ROUND NOTEBOOK
• David Duval, making his first start on the First Coast since THE PLAYERS in 2006 tied for 35th. The Ginn sur Mer Classic represents the 102nd tournament for Duval since his last top-10 finish at the 2002 Invensys Classic in Las Vegas (he tied for sixth). Duval has made the cut in five of his last 10 events.
• The winning score in four of the six PGA TOUR events played so far in Florida this year were by single-digit, under-par scores, including Ernie Els at the Honda Classic ( 6 under), Sean O'Hair at the PODS Championship (4 under), Sergio Garcia at THE PLAYERS Championship (5 under) and Ryan Palmer at the Ginn sur Mer Classic (7 under)
• Palm City, Fla., resident Ken Duke notched his 11th top-25 finish in his last 14 starts. He is No. 31 on the money list.
• A total of 102 players have earned more than $1 million this season to set a PGA TOUR record. Last year, 99 players collected over $1 million, which was the previous record.
• Troy Matteson, a native of Rockledge, Fla., tied for seventh, his fourth top-10 showing of the year. Two of those finishes came in Florida, including a season-best, runner-up finish at the PODS Championship.
• To read more notes from the third round, click here.
| What the leaders said | ||||||||||||||||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Satellite Radio announcer Mark Carnevale offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
| 73 | Ryan Palmer's new position on the money list |
| 71 | Final round shot by winner Ryan Palmer |
| 1 | Number of events remaining in the Fall Series |
Just a week and a half ago, Jeff Overton withdrew from the Fry's.com Open and had emergency appendectomy. At that point, Overton was 126th on the 2008 money list. When it looked like he might not be able to play the rest of the year and would finish outside the top 125, he played despite pain and shot rounds of 71, 73, 70 and 71, making the cut and moving up to 125th on the money list. Always beware of the injured player.
How about Mark Wilson on the par-3 eighth today? He hit his tee shot, and it buried on a very steep bank just short and left of the green. After getting relief from an embedded ball, he struggled to drop his ball, get a stance and play his shot. After a lot of determination and tries, he placed his ball on the bank and, after a miraculous shot, made par keeping him at 4 under. Later in the round, he actually made it into a tie for the lead. Unfortunately, a double bogey at No. 16 dropped him from contention.
The 54-hole leader Michael Letzig also led in birdies made through three rounds. Unfortunately, he did not make a single birdie in the final round. He shot 73 and tied for second. Just one would have put him in a playoff for the win.
What more can you say for the game of golf and those who play it? Golf has always been a self-policing sport where players call penalties on themselves. This has never been more evident than in the final round of the Ginn Sur Mer Classic. Winner Ryan Palmer was on the 10th green at 8 under with a two-shot lead. After hitting his second shot onto the green, he marked his ball. When it was his turn to putt, he replaced his ball and did his normal routine of looking at his putt from all angles. When he was ready to hit his putt, he placed his putter behind his ball, immediately noticed it had moved and backed away from it.
He brought this up to his playing partners Mark Wilson and Ken Duke. Wilson said he thought it still might be a penalty. They called a PGA TOUR Rules Official in, Steve Rintoul, who confirmed it was a one-stroke penalty. So Palmer was putting for par instead of birdie. He eventually bogeyed the hole and double bogeyed the next hole, dropping out of the lead. Palmer birdied the final hole to win the tournament by one stroke. Who says good things don't happen to good people? Hooray for Ryan Palmer and hooray for the game of golf. It truly does show your character. Congratulations Ryan Palmer -- winner of the 2008 Ginn Sur Mer Classic.
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