Chalmers wins Nationwide Henrico County Open in playoff over Bjornstad

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GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- Greg Chalmers became the fifth Australian to win in eight Nationwide Tour events Sunday when he defeated Norway's Henrik Bjornstad on the second playoff hole at the Henrico County Open. The pair emerged from a crowded leaderboard during the final round and finished regulation play at The Dominion Club in suburban Richmond tied at 14-under-par 274.

Greg Chalmers is the fifth Australian to win on the Nationwide Tour this year. (Gardner/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Chalmers' Final Stats

Category Total Rank Eagles 1 T6 Birdies 17 T21 Pars 49 T15 Bogeys 5 T67 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 66.1% T37 Driving Distance 278.6 yds. 33 Greens in Regulation 59.7% T65 Putts per Round 25.3 1 Putts per GIR 1.605 2 Sand Saves 57.1% T27

Chalmers three-putted for bogey from 75 feet on the second extra hole, but it was enough to beat Bjornstad, who pulled his tee shot on the par 3 into the water and missed an eight-foot putt to prolong the overtime session. Chalmers became only the second player in the Tour's 19-year history to win a playoff with a bogey. All but one of the previous 126 playoffs ended either with an eagle, birdie or par.

"This feels really good to win this early in the year," said Chalmers, who joins fellow Aussies Jarrod Lyle, Ewan Porter, Gavin Coles and Aron Price in the winner's circle this year. "I've been playing very nicely to this point. I felt this kind of win was just around the corner for me and it's nice to actually turn that corner."

Veteran Neal Lancaster finished third, one shot back, when his 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation stopped inches away from the cup. Six players tied for fourth, two back, including third-round co-leaders Matt Hansen (74) and Bryan DeCorso (74). That left Chalmers and Bjornstad to battle it out in the tournament's third straight playoff and the fifth in the past nine years.

The pair returned to the tee at the 537-yard 18th, where they each made par. Chalmers laid up on the par 5 and two-putted for par, while Bjornstad went for the green in two and settled for par when his 12-foot birdie putt missed.

That sent the two over to the 191-yard, par-3 ninth hole, which shares a green with No. 18.

"I was really nervous," said Bjornstad. "I really played solid today. It's a learning experience. Those were not the best two holes in my life."

Bjornstad played bogey-free on the weekend, posting rounds of 70-70 and was first to the clubhouse at minus 14.

Chalmers ran off three consecutive birdies starting at No. 5 and reached 15 under par. Several good birdie chances slipped by, keeping him from establishing a lead. A bogey at No. 16 dropped him back to 14 under, where he remained.

Hansen held the outright lead at 15 under with three holes to go, but bogeyed the par 4 16th to fall into a tie and then watched as his second shot on the par-5 closing hole fell short in the water and resulted in a double bogey.

"I though I could hit a 3-iron further than 198 yards," said Hansen, who had that distance to cover the water and 219 yards to the pin. "If it's five yards to the left it's on land. There will be other chances. It's one of those things, you live and learn."

The victory was worth $90,000 for Chalmers and bumped the 34-year old part-time Texan to No. 2 on the season money list with $161,154. The top 25 at the end of the year will move onto the PGA TOUR in 2009.

Fourth-Round News & Notes: The final-round scoring average was 73.222. The cumulative scoring average for the week was 71.782. ... Low rounds of the day were the 68s by Arjun Atwal, Casey Wittenberg and Bill Lunde. ... Jeff Klauk collected his fifth top-25 finish of the year. Klauk carded a 71 and wound up tied for fourth. He moved up from No. 11 to No. 9 on the money list. ... The only player who was bogey-free on Sunday was Jason Schultz (71). ... The Nationwide Tour heads back south next week for the South Georgia Classic at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta.