McDOWELL FINISHES SHOT BEHIND PLAY-OFF WINNER BYRD

FROM THE GOLF.COM WEBSITE
KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Jonathan Byrd had a silver trophy at his side and a lei draped around his neck, a winner Sunday in the Tournament of Champions, even if the play-off didn't end the way anyone imagined.
"Pretty overwhelmed," he said.
The emotions went beyond his victory in the PGA Tour's season opener when Robert Garrigus, the biggest hitter on tour, missed a 3-foot par putt on the second extra hole at Kapalua.
Just over three months ago, Byrd thought he might lose his card for the first time in his career. He was outside the top 125 on the money list, and not much was going his way.
Then came a hole-in-one in near darkness to win Las Vegas in a play-off, getting him to Maui for the Tournament of Champions. He made it two straight wins by closing with a 6-under 67, and winning despite the length advantage for Garrigus in the playoff.
"I can't sit here and not think about where I was toward the end of the season last year, fighting for my card," he said. "I'm just thankful, I'm overwhelmed, I'm grateful, all of the above."
Garrigus - his name might as well be "gregarious" - was thankful, too, despite a tough way to lose. He had a 12-foot eagle putt on the last hole in regulation that would have been enough to win. He failed to take advantage of his length on the par-5 18th in the playoff, hitting a poor chip that fooled him. And with a 9-iron to the green on No. 1 in the playoff - Byrd his 3-iron - he couldn't get it closer than 40 feet.
Garrigus ran it 3 feet by the hole, and tried to jam it in from there and caught the right lip.
"If you had told me this - I'd have been in a playoff with one of the best players in the world - I'd have said, 'Hey, bring it on and we'll get 'em next week," said Garrigus, who also shot 67. "It was a great week. I've lost about 133 golf tournaments, and it's not that big a deal. I get a nice check, and I get to go next week and relax and have fun."
They finished at 24-under 268.
Byrd had an 18-foot birdie putt in regulation to win. He had a 10-foot birdie on the 18th in the playoff to win. No putt came closer than his 50-foot effort on No. 1 in the playoff, the ball just touching the high side of the hole. He tapped in for par, and standing to the side of the green, began planning his next shot in the playoff at the par-3 second.
Garrigus put a sad end to it all.
"He just gave it a little too much gas, and missed the next putt coming back," Byrd said.
Byrd won for the fifth time in his career, and this was the biggest. He had never won on tour earlier than July. He had never beaten a field this strong, with only PGA Tour winners from last year. And this one came with some perks. Byrd earned an automatic invitation to the Masters, and with his second win in the last two months, he is exempt for the U.S. Open.
Graeme McDowell nearly joined them in the playoff. The U.S. Open champion, coming off a dream season, matched the Plantation Course record with an 11-under 62 and finished one shot behind. McDowell had a 10-foot birdie putt on the last hole that just missed.
But McDowell almost joined them in the play-off after a final round 62 that included 11 birdies.
"I'm very happy with the day's work," the 2010 US Open champion said.
McDowell, who changed his clubs at the start of the week, was six shots behind the leaders at the start of the day, and had a chance to join them in the play-off only to miss that birdie putt at the last.
"Obviously when you go into a final round that far back and you know the scoring is going to be good, there's nothing you can do really but just put the head down and try to have a great day yourself," he added after finishing 23 under par for the tournament.
"When I birdied 13 through 16, I kind of started to think that maybe I had an outside shot.
"I really look back at the first three rounds as the problem for me. I didn't finish the golf course very well at all here during the week."
The 31-year-old, ranked fifth in the world, hit earlier rounds of 71, 68 and 68, but his superb last round at the Kapalua Resort included six birdies before the turn and five on the back nine.
"It's great to come out and answer all of the questions this week," he said.
"I realised it was going to be a difficult way to start the season, with new equipment in the bag coming off the back of last year."
McDowell started the final round six shots out of the lead, and he told one of the locker room attendants that he probably would need a 59 to have any kind of chance.

He gave it quite a ride. He ran off four straight birdies early in the round to make the turn in 30 and get within range. After scolding himself for missing an 8-foot birdie try on the 12th, McDowell responded with four straight birdies, including a 20-footer down the slope on the 15th after playing a safe pitch.
"I never looked at the leaderboard," McDowell said. "I knew the guys were going to go low. I just kept my head down. When I birdied, 14, 14, 15, 16 ... I said, 'Hold on.'"
But with another dose of Kona wind - that's when Kapalua is at its longest - the 17th and 18th are not easy. McDowell can't reach the par-5 18th in two, but hit a risky pitch that flew toward the pin and checked up 8 feet short. His firm putt didn't catch all the break, and he had to settle for par for the fourth straight round.
"It was just a fun day out there," McDowell said. "This golf course is just 'green light' all day. You can see from the scoring, there's a lot of birdies, and it's a lot of fun."
Steve Stricker, tied with Byrd and Garrigus going into the final round, shot 71 and tied for fourth with Carl Pettersson (68).
It wasn't much fun for Stricker, who didn't stay in the lead very long.
Stricker chipped poorly on the first hole and made bogey, three-putted for par on the fifth, then hit two very tentative putts on the seventh hole for another three-putt bogey that left him four shots behind.
Ian Poulter closed with a 66 to tie for sixth - he hasn't finished worse than that in his last five tournaments. He was joined by Matt Kuchar, who shot a 69.
The other Englishman in the field, Justin Rose, finished joint 12th.
The tournament ended with a bizarre twist, much like the rest of the week went.
It started with two-time defending champion Geoff Ogilvy having to pull out with 12 stitches in his finger from a freak injury in the ocean. The next day, Camilo Villegas was disqualified because of a rules violation that was reported through Twitter.
It ended with the first American winner at Kapalua in 10 years, something Byrd was made aware of earlier in the week.
"I said it was about time for an American to win," Byrd said. "I just didn't know it would be me."
FINAL TOTALS
Par 292 (4x73)

1 Jonathan Byrd 66 68 67 67 268 (won play-off at second extra hole). ($1,120,00).
2 Robert Garrigus 69 63 69 67 268 ($635,000).
3 Graeme McDowell 71 68 68 62 269 ($412,000).

T4 Carl Pettersson 66 67 71 68 272 ($286,500).
T4 Steve Stricker 69 67 65 71 272 ($286,500).
T6 Ian Poulter 70 68 70 66 274 ($201,500).
T6 Matt Kuchar 69 70 66 69 274 ($201,500).
8 Bill Haas  68 70 69 69 276 ($182,000).
T9 Dustin Johnson 71 66 73 68 278 ($162,000).
T9 Jim Furyk 68 68 72 70 278 ($162,000).
T9 Jason Day 73 66 69 70 278 ($162,000).
T12 Justin Rose 75 67 69 68 279 ($132,000).
T12 Arjun Atwal 72 69 68 70 279 ($132,000).
T12 Bill Lunde  70 68 70 71 279 ($132,000).
T15 Francesco Molinari 69 67 74 70 280 ($107,000).
T15 Ryan Palmer 70 72 68 70 280 ($107,000).
T17 Tim Clark 72 68 73 68 281 ($87,000).

T17 Ernie Els  72 64 74 71 281 ($87,000).
T19 Anthony Kim  69 71 74 68 282 ($75,500).
T19 Matt Bettencourt  73 70 70 69 282 ($75,500).
T21 Ben Crane 67 70 74 72 283 ($71,000).
T21 Adam Scott 73 67 70 73 283 ($71,000).
T23 Zach Johnson 71 73 69 71 284 ($67,000).
T23 Cameron Beckman 72 71 70 71 284 ($67,000).
T25 Hunter Mahan 70 70 78 67 285 ($62,000).
T25 Bubba Watson 70 70 73 72 285 ($62,000).
T25 Charley Hoffman 68 75 67 75 285 ($62,000).
T28 Heath Slocum  70 74 72 70 286 ($58,500).
T28 Jason Bohn  72 72 72 70 286 ($58,500).
30 Stuart Appleby  69 75 73 72 289 ($57,000).
31 Rocco Mediate 79 70 75 71 295 ($56,000).
32 Derek Lamely 72 76 78 70 296 ($55,000).
Disqualfied: 32 Camilo Villegas 
Withdrew: 32 Geoff Ogilvy

DRIVING AVERAGE
1 Dustin Johnson 307.9yd
2 Derej Lamely 296.5yd.
3 Jason Day 293.4yd.