Final-round notebook: AT&T Classic

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Craig Kanada grinded out a T11 finish by breaking par in all four rounds. (Getty Images)

• With TPC Sugarloaf fairways still wet and soft from Thursday's storm, and with rain predicted Sunday, officials elected to allow players to use preferred lies in the final round, the fourth consecutive day lift, clean and place rules were in effect. The high temperature reached 73, with winds west at 8-15 mph and gusts reaching 28 mph.

• Since making the cut in 2003 but finishing at 9-over (tied for 74th), 2008 AT&T Classic champion Ryuji Imada is 45-under in his last 15 rounds (excluding the two playoff holes in 2007 and this year). In his last 12 rounds, he's had 62 birdies and one eagle.

• This was the 12th playoff in tournament history. In those 12 extra sessions, eight have ended on the first hole. Including Sunday's par-winning putt by Ryuji Imada, five of the 12 playoffs have been won with a par.

• Ryuji Imada has a 1-1 playoff record -- with both extra sessions coming at the AT&T Classic. Imada lost to Zach Johnson on the first playoff hole last year. He defeated Kenny Perry Sunday with a par-5 on the first extra hole.

• Kenny Perry dropped to 1-2 in playoffs. He defeated Hale Irwin at the 1991 Memorial, lost to Mark Brooks at the 1996 PGA Championship and lost to Ryuji Imada at this week's AT&T Classic.

• Entering this week's tournament Ryuji Imada had three runner-up performances in his PGA TOUR career. He kept coming close to winning his first title until Sunday, when he finally did win. Following his second-place finish at the AT&T Classic a year ago, Imada finished second to Tiger Woods at this year's Buick Invitational and tied for second at the PODS Championship in early March.

• With his win, Ryuji Imada improved to third place in the season-long FedExCup standings. He earned 4,500 points for his victory and has 10,431 points this season.

• By tying for 11th, Craig Kanada enjoyed his best PGA TOUR finish since he tied for 10th at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii. Kanada has found a home at AT&T-sponsored events. Last year, he tied for 12th at AT&T National outside Washington, D.C., and his best finish this season, prior to his performance this week, was a tie for 24th at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am in February.

• Craig Kanada played steady golf all week, turning in a bogey-free round Saturday?a bogey-less streak that eventually totaled 40 holes. Kanada bogeyed his 14th hole in Friday's second round, and he didn't make another bogey the rest of the way. At one point, he made 17 consecutive pars, starting with the 13th hole in the third round and ending on the 11th hole in the final round. Sunday he made 17 pars and one birdie.

• Bubba Watson made a nice recovery from his opening round, where he shot a 3-over 75 and was tied for 109th through 18 holes. In Friday's second round, he shot a 66 and improved 80 places, to a tie for 29th. After his third-round 68, he was tied for 14th entering the final round. He shot a 70 Sunday to tie for 11th.

• On Parker McLachlin's two eagles this week -- at No. 18 in the second round and on No. 13 in the final round -- he made 117 feet worth of shots. On No. 18 Friday, he made an eagle putt from 42 feet, 6 inches. On the par-4 13th Sunday, McLachlin holed out from 74 feet, 6 inches.

• This week, Bob Tway shot par-or-better rounds every day (72-70-69-68). The last time Tway did that was in 2006 at the FUNAI Classic at Walt Disney World Resort. By going 7-under on the weekend at TPC Sugarloaf, Tway tied for 11th after being tied for 40th through 36 holes.

• Justin Bolli's success this week in the Peach State shouldn't come as a surprise. Prior to his performance at the 2008 AT&T Classic, where he tied for fifth, Bolli's best PGA TOUR finish was a tie for 15th at this event in 2005. In 2006, while playing on the Nationwide Tour, Bolli tied for fifth at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. A year later, also on the Nationwide Tour, he tied for second in Athens.

• Earlier in the week, Bob Charles was at TPC Sugarloaf to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his victory in the inaugural event, held at Atlanta Country Club. Following the Wednesday festivities, Charles flew back to Birmingham, Ala. to play in the Champions Tour's Regions Charity Classic. Two days later, the 72-year-old Charles fired a first-round, 4-under 68 to better his age by four strokes. He finished the tournament with rounds of 74-73 to tie for 35th, his best Champions Tour performance since the 2007 Senior British Open (tied for 34th).

• Ryan Palmer's last three tournament starts have all come in Georgia. Sunday he finished 10th at the AT&T Classic. A month ago, he tied for 13th on the Nationwide Tour at the Athens Regional Foundation Classic. Two weeks later, in Valdosta, Palmer missed the cut at the Nationwide Tour's South Georgia Classic.

• How did the leaders do at the tantalizing 328-yard par-4 13th hole Sunday? Parker McLachlin eagled No. 13, while birdies came from James Driscoll, Ryuji Imada, Ryan Palmer, Kenny Perry and Camilo Villegas. Justin Bolli and Jonathan Byrd parred the hole. For the day, the stroke average there was 3.697, making it the easiest hole of the day and the second-easiest for the tournament (3.757).

• Kenny Perry did what only three other players have done since the AT&T Classic moved to TPC Sugarloaf in 1997 -- post four rounds in the 60s. Perry shot rounds of 66-69-69-69 to join David Duval (1999), Davis Love III (1999) and Phil Mickelson (2006). Of that group, Perry and Love didn't win.

• Defending champion Zach Johnson's streak of 11 consecutive under-par rounds at TPC Sugarloaf ended Sunday with his 1-over 73. His last over-par round prior to Sunday's 73 was a 3-over 75 in the first round in 2005.

Of the 28 players competing in their first AT&T Classics, 13 made the cut and played on the weekend. Here is how the first-timers finished: