Christian wins in playoff at NE Pennsylvania Classic

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It took nine playoff holes, which ties the Nationwide Tour record for the longest playoff, but Gary Christian prevailed in Scranton.

Moscow, Pa. -- Patience and a mis-hit 6-iron finally paid dividends for Englishman Gary Christian, who rolled in a short birdie putt on a record-tying ninth playoff hole to beat Mathias Gronberg and win the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic. Christian needed only to two-putt for par from five feet after Gronberg stumbled to a bogey-5, but the Auburn alum coaxed in the winner to capture his first Nationwide Tour title.

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Leaderboard: Scores
Scorecard: Christian
Scorecard: Gronberg
Round 3 recap
Round 2 recap
Round 1 recap

The playoff matched the longest in Tour history, which came barely 75 miles away at the 1998 Lehigh Valley Open near Bethlehem when Eric Booker finally stopped Notah Begay III.

"Everything has to end eventually," laughed Christian, who was all smiles after collecting the $94,500 first-place check. "I needed to get into the record book somehow. To be honest, I lost count."

If Hollywood was looking for sequel to the movie Groundhog Day, this was the place. Christian and Gronberg both started the final round at 9-under par and two shots back of 54-hole leader Guy Boros. Both players carded 6-under 64s to get to 15-under and force the third playoff in the 10-year history of the tournament.

The playoff began and ended on the 435-yard, uphill 18th hole. The two went to the tee at 4:52 p.m. and kept going back for more than two hours before Christian settled matters right at 7:00. In between, they exchanged nearly identical two-putt pars eight times on the same hole before Christian caught his 6-iron from 159 yards "a little thin" and watched as it carved its' way to middle-right pin location and set up one of few legitimate birdie chances of the overtime period.

"It's not a hole you can force," said Christian, who birdied the hole in the second round and settled for pars the other dozen times he played it this week. "We were like a couple of heavyweights. We both had some chances."

Gronberg, winner of the Melwood Prince George's County Open in June, had the best chance at the end of regulation but missed a five-footer for birdie that would have gotten him to 16-under. He watched Christian, in the group behind him, get out of trouble from the right trees and make par to force the overtime session, the ninth of the 2009 season.

Christian was nearly perfect in the playoff hitting the fairway with driver each time, hitting the same 6-iron up the same hill and hitting the green eight times out of nine. The only time he missed, he still was only inches off the back edge.

Gronberg wasn't quite as precise. His only mistake, the only mistake of the never-ending day, came when his 7-iron from the fairway went too far right, leaving him in a deep, grass bunker to a short-sided pin. His pitch flew 20 feet past the hole and the comeback putt for par wound up short.

"We both kept playing to the middle of the green," said the winner, who moved from No. 89 to No. 23 on the money list.

Christian was on the same line at least four times and continued to miss his chances, three of which came from inside 12 feet. Gronberg had two good opportunities for birdies, but also missed.

"It was a little bit annoying not to make putts a little bit sooner," said Gronberg.

"I hit the same putt a number of times and I hit great putts, it just wouldn't go in," said Christian, who did some breathing exercises throughout the day in an attempt to stay relaxed and focused.

Whatever the 38-year old father of two did, worked.

Christian was bogey-free for the entire weekend, posting scores of 63-64. His 127 total matched the lowest 36-hole score on Tour this year and bettered the lowest final-36 hole score by three strokes.

Henrik Bjornstad (67) finished at 13-under and two shy of the playoff and Chris Tidland (69) was alone in fourth, four back. Boros (71) had to settle for a tie for fifth place, along with seven others.

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Fourth-Round Notes:

• Lift, clean and place conditions were in effect for Round 4.

• Jeff Gove shot a 6-under 64 in the final round to finish T20. The 64 is the lowest final round in Gove's Nationwide Tour career, which covers 256 starts and 164 cuts made. Gove ranks No. 9 in Scoring Average Before the Cut but is No. 72 in final-round scoring average this year.

• Gove has made 14 cuts in a row and 17 of 19 this year but during his 14 consecutive cut streak he has only three top-10 finishes. Despite the streak, Gove has fallen from No. 9 to No. 15 on the money list.

• Matt Hendrix will get another start next week thanks to his T13 finish this week. The former Clemson star has no status on Tour this year but will advance to play at the Mexico Open next week. Hendrix is 3-for-3 in cuts made this year. He was T50 at the BMW Charity Pro-Am, where he received a sponsor exemption. He was a Monday qualifier at last week's Christmas In October Classic and finished T23, which got him into this week's field. His bogey-free, final-round 64 propelled him to a tie 13th place. Hendrix has a scoring average of 68.50 in his 12 rounds this season.

• Canada's Jon Mills carded a 64 in the final round thanks to a 5-under 30 on the back nine. The 64 represents his best score in 2009, bettering the final-round 65 he posted at last week's Christmas In October Classic.

• Ryan Armour had a pair of eagles Sunday, both on par-5s. The former Ohio State star has been battling strep throat this week and will take next week off.

• Garrett Osborn had two eagles Sunday, both on par-5s.

• Tom Gillis continues his stellar play this year. Gillis is a perfect 10-for-10 in cuts made. A final-round 66 included a bogey on his last hole was enough to get him into the top-10 for the fifth time in his last six starts. Gillis has now finished 1st, T31, 2nd, T3, T9 and T5 in his last six. He also earned enough money to go over the $300,000 mark for the season over leapfrog Blake Adams for third place on the money list.

• Osborn has now finished T5, T16 and T5 in his last three starts. Osborn has moved from No. 73 to No. 40 as a result of his solid play.

• David McKenzie has made 13 cuts in a row. A T5 finish this week moved him up five spots on the money list to No. 36.

• Seven of the top-10 money winners were in the field this week and all seven made the cut and are in a position to maintain or improve their positions on the money list. Here's how they finished this week and where they are now on the money list:

• Scoring Averages for the week: