Tway wins Safeway Open in play-off for first PGA Tour victory
NAPA: Kevin Tway birdied his last five holes, three in a play-off, to win his first PGA Tour title on Sunday at the Safeway Open, where Brandt Snedeker squandered a five-shot lead in the final round.
Tway rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the third hole of sudden death to win the first event of the PGA Tour’s 2018-19 season over Ryan Moore at Silverado Resort in California.
Snedeker, who started the day with a three-shot lead and led by five with 11 remaining in regulation, fell by the wayside with a par at the first play-off hole.
Moore matched Tway’s birdies at the first and second play-off holes, before succumbing at the third — the par-four 10th.
“I’m kind of at a loss for words,” said Tway, the 30-year-old son of 1986 PGA Championship winner Bob Tway.
“I think I birdied my last five holes — that always helps.”
He had birdied 17 and 18 in regulation to complete a one-under par 71, finishing tied with Moore and Snedeker on 14-under par 274.
Snedeker started the day with a threeshot lead and stretched the advantage to five after birdies at the fifth and seventh before slumping with four bogeys on the back nine.
That included three in a row at 10, 11 and 12, and that was enough to see his lead evaporate as Moore birdied 15, 16 and 18 to reach 14-under with a five-under-par final-round of 67.
Snedeker briefly regained a one-shot lead with a birdie at the par-five 16th, where he rolled in a 10-foot putt.
But he immediately gave the shot back at the 17th, where he was far left off the tee and in the pine straw under a tree. He found a bunker at the par-five 18th and settled for a par and a two-over 74.
“Really disappointing,” Snedeker said. “I played a really good front nine in tough conditions, made the turn and actually drove the ball really well, just hit some really, really poor iron shots.”
Snedeker said he’d remember the event as one he “gave away”.
“It’s done, and I didn’t do it,” he said. “It sucks right now, but I’m playing next week.”