Munoz wins Sanderson Farms in playoff for 1st PGA Tour title
Mediate captures Sanford International crown
JACKSON, Miss, Sept 23, (AP): Sebastian Munoz of Colombia made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff, and then beat Sungjae Im with a par on the first extra hole to win the Sanderson Farms Championship for his first PGA Tour victory.
Munoz, who closed with a 2-under 70, made it two straight weeks for South American winners, following Joaquin Niemann winning last week at the Greenbrier.
“Jaco’s win gave me the belief I needed, the little extra belief I’m good enough, I’m here,” Munoz said.
Niemann won by six shots at the Greenbrier. Munoz had it far more difficult.
He was among four players in the mix over the back nine at the Country Club of Jackson, and it looked as though the 21-year-old Im would snatch his first victory when he made a 12-foot birdie putt on the par-5 14th, got up-and-down from a bunker on the reachable 15th for birdie, and made it three straight birdies with a 12-foot putt. He closed with a 66, and that looked like it might be enough.
Byeong Hun An made consecutive bogeys to fall out of the mix. Carlos Ortiz couldn’t get a putt to fall.
Munoz lost two good scoring opportunities with a drive well right of the fairway on the 14th, and then flubbing a lob shot left of the 15th green that went into the bunker, leading to bogey. Down to his last hole, he played it to perfection with a big drive, an approach to 15 feet below the hole and the most important putt of his young career.
The 26-year-old from Bogota, who played his college golf at North Texas, poured in the birdie putt to join Im at 18-under 270.
“We just decided on a line, kept it as as simple as can and just strike the putt,” Munoz said. The playoff on the 18th hole wasn’t as clean. Im went left into the Bermuda rough and caught a flier, sending the ball well over the green against the grandstand. Munoz was in the right rough and, expecting the ball to come out hot, he abbreviated his swing and it came out some 30 yards short. His chipand-run rolled out to just under 4 feet. Im did well to pitch out of rough to just over 6 feet by the hole, but his par putt didn’t even touch the cup and he started walking soon after he hit it.
Meanwhile, Rocco Mediate needed just about everything to go right for him to win the Sanford International, and it did.
Ken Duke had everything go wrong on the last hole that helped Mediate to his first victory on the PGA Tour Champions in three years.
Mediate birdied his last two holes for a 6-under 64 at Minnehaha Country Club. He won after Duke, tied for the lead going into the final hole, caught two nasty lies in the rough and made double bogey. Mediate wound up winning by two shots. It was his first victory since the Senior PGA Championship in 2016.
Duke had a share of the lead going into the final round for the first time in his career and held his own until the last hole. His drive took a hop to the right into the rough, leaving Duke a bad lie. From off the green, he sought relief because he thought the ball was in the lining of sod, but that wasn’t the case.