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Wilson Wins Honda Classic in Playoff

Posted on: Monday, 5 March 2007, 09:00 CST

By TIM REYNOLDS

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Mark Wilson birdied the third playoff hole Monday to beat Jose Coceres and win the Honda Classic, marking his first PGA Tour victory in 111 starts.

Wilson rolled in an 8-footer on the par-3 17th. Coceres followed with a putt of nearly the same distance and on the same line as Wilson's, but his try hit the lip and rolled away.

Wilson, who earned $990,000, thrust both fists into the air and hugged his caddy when Coceres' putt didn't fall. He's gone to the Tour's qualifying school in each of the last 10 years, but is now exempt through the 2009 season.

"I'm just thrilled," Wilson said. "I'm just tickled to death."

Boo Weekley and Camilo Villegas were both eliminated from the playoff with bogeys on the second hole, the par-4 10th, which was the first one played Monday by the foursome - all of whom finished regulation play on the PGA National course at 5-under 275.

Weekley missed a 3-foot par putt on the 72nd hole Sunday, one that would have won him the tournament. On the 10th hole Monday, his drive was deep in the left rough, leaving him no chance of reaching the long par-4, and he made bogey.

"It's a learning experience. I'm disappointed in myself after yesterday, but that's golf, man," Weekley said. "That just happens. ... Just golf. Just a part of it."

All four made par on the par-5 18th on Sunday night when the playoff began, but darkness forced the playoff to Monday.

Wilson got into the playoff, largely because of a 45-foot par save at the par-4 16th late Sunday afternoon. He then rolled in a 30-footer for par on the first playoff hole, yet that was just part of his dramatic week.

On Friday, he called a two-shot penalty on himself because his caddy inadvertently gave Villegas and his caddy club information on the par-3 fifth hole. Without that penalty, Wilson would have won it on Sunday - but didn't mind waiting to finish it off on Monday.

Villegas and Coceres closed on Sunday with 4-under 66s, while Weekley and Wilson shot 71s. Tripp Isenhour (67), Robert Allenby (68) and Steve Stricker (69) followed at 4 under, and Brett Wetterich and Daniel Chopra (71) were another shot back.

The leaderboard was tight at the start of the round, and only got more congested during the afternoon.

Villegas wound up getting to the crucial 5-under mark with birdies at Nos. 16 and 17 - the final two holes of PGA National's famed "Bear Trap," named in honor of course redesigner Jack Nicklaus.

"I've never been in a four-man playoff," Villegas said. "But you know what? I can only control my game."

Isenhour - who made a costly bogey at the 15th hole, the first of the three-hole stretch named in Nicklaus' honor - nearly joined the final logjam at 5 under, but his birdie putt at the final hole slid just past the right edge.

"I kept giving myself chances," Isenhour said. "I got 'Bear Trapped.'"

It's the sixth time the Honda has gone to a playoff. Most recently, Padraig Harrington beat Vijay Singh and Joe Ogilvie at Mirasol on the second extra hole in 2005. It's also the tour's first four-man playoff since the 2004 Reno-Tahoe Open, and the first unscheduled Monday finish since the 2005 PGA Championship.

Notes:@ Robert Garrigus' final round started with a double bogey, and got worse. He took another double at No. 7, then put three balls in the water at the par-3 15th - making 9 there and furthering his spiral to a 14-over 84. He finished at 18 over. ... J.J. Henry bogeyed the par-4 eighth hole, ending a run of 26 straight holes without dropping a shot. ... Even though the course was demanding, most players said they enjoyed the test. "We're hoping this is the first of many good tournaments here," Nicklaus said.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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