Furyk takes Wachovia Championship over Immelman in playoff

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Given another chance in a playoff at the Wachovia Championship, Jim Furyk finished the job Sunday.

A hard-luck loser in a four-hole playoff last year, Furyk made an 8-foot par putt to force extra holes against Trevor Immelman of South Africa, then made a 6-footer for par on No. 18 in the playoff to win and erase bad memories at Quail Hollow.

But he needed some help from the 26-year-old South African.

Immelman had to two-putt from 50 feet on the 18th hole in regulation to capture his first PGA TOUR victory, but ran the putt 10 feet by and missed the par putt. Then in the playoff, he fanned his tee shot into a miserable lie in the right rough, had to lay up 80 yards short of the green and saw his wedge spin off the front. The best he could do was get up-and-down for bogey.

Furyk, who had a one-shot lead going into a rainy final round, closed with a 1-under 71 and earned $1.134 million for his 11th career victory, and one that might be enough to move him into the top five in the world ranking.

It also ended a spell of close calls, including a runner-up finish in his last start three weeks ago at Hilton Head.

Furyk found the bunker off the tee in the playoff, but ripped a 3-iron at the flag and it rolled just off the green. Electing to use putter, he ran it 6 feet by, and made the par try -- thrusting his fist into the air before the ball even reached the cup.

"It's nice to come out and get it done this time," Furyk said.

Immelman was solid throughout the heavy rain in the middle of the round, and the pressure down the stretch. He built a two-shot lead with a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-3 13th hole and kept his cushion as Furyk closed in. The South African twice made clutch par saves on the 16th and 17th to keep the lead, and hit the middle of the fairway and the middle of the green on the final hole.

That's where it all came undone.

"For anybody to get within 5 feet would have been a good effort," Immelman said of his 50-foot putt in regulation. "When you come that close, you're disappointed to not finish the job. It's my best finish on the PGA TOUR, and I've got to build on that."

Furyk knows that disappointment well.

A year ago, he closed with a 66 to make up six shots on Sergio Garcia and join a three-man playoff that included Vijay Singh. Furyk twice had birdie putts to win, then hit into the creek on the 18th hole -- his third time playing that hole -- to give it away.

"I've seen enough of the 18th hole," said Furyk, who has played it five times in the final round over the last two years.

Adam Scott never got within four shots of the lead, but wound up third after closing with a 71.

Retief Goosen was tied for the lead with seven holes to play but couldn't keep up.

Jim Furyk has five top-10 finishes in 11 events in 2006. (Condon/PGA TOUR/ WireImage)  
Jim Furyk has five top-10 finishes in 11 events in 2006. (Condon/PGA TOUR/ WireImage)    
Starting times were moved up because of so much rain in the forecast, and it there were two delays before the leaders teed off. What they found was a course that played longer than ever because of the wet fairways and chill in the air.

The best round of the day was a 69 by former Wachovia champion Joey Sindelar, and the average score was 74.67.

Immelman scrambled early with back-to-back saves, one from a buried, sidehill lie in the bunker at No. 4, then surged into the lead with birdies on the par 5s and an unlikely birdie at No. 8. He missed the fairway to the right, blocked by a large tree, but hit a wedge that nicked the limbs, then skipped and stopped quickly near the hole.

Immelman took a two-shot lead to the back nine, then quickly gave it away with a double bogey on No. 11 when he went deep into the rough and trees to the right, couldn't get it out to the fairway and was still short of the green on his third shot.

He birdied two of the next three holes to restore his margin, but didn't have enough to finish the job.

Divots: David Duval was 3 over through five holes when play was suspended in the morning. He returned to play 3 under the rest of the way, closing with a 72 and tied for 22nd, his best finish of the year and his best since a tie for 13th in 2004 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. ... Lucas Glover continues to climb in the Ryder Cup standings, picking up 130 points with his tie for fourth. That moved him up three spots to No. 6. Glover got 20 additional points when Retief Goosen made a 9 on his final hole. ... Bill Haas closed with a 70 and tied for fourth with Glover. Not only was it his best PGA TOUR finish, the top 10 earned him a spot in the field next week at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. "You get top 10 out here a few times, and that takes the pressure off of you," Haas said.

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