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LAS VEGAS -- Wes Short Jr. had a simple strategy for the
second playoff hole against Jim Furyk.
"I knew if I kept it on land, I was going to have a chance to
win the tournament," Short said Sunday after capturing the
Michelin Championship on the second extra hole for his first PGA
Tour victory.
After Furyk's tee shot on the par-3 17th plopped into the lake,
Short followed with a shot that stayed dry, although it rolled into
a bunker.
Furyk, trying for his fourth Las Vegas victory, hit his third
shot 12 feet from the hole, but Short nestled his shot from the
sand within a foot of the cup and tapped in for a winning par.
"Right now, I don't have any emotions," said Short, who joined
the tour last year as a 40-year old rookie. "I thought when I
first won, I'd be jumping to the moon. But it's like it hasn't sunk
in yet."
Short was coming off a tie for 13th at Greensboro, his best
finish before this week. The Las Vegas victory was worth $720,000.
Furyk three-putted No. 18 for a bogey in regulation, and Short
birdied the hole.
Both parred the first extra hole, then Furyk, who has won only
one of six playoffs in his tour career, pulled his tee shot and the
ball sailed into the water.
Short closed with a 6-under 66 and Furyk had a 65 for 21-under
266 totals for three rounds at the TPC at Summerlin and one on the
TPC at The Canyons.
Furyk won the tournament in 1995, 1998 and 1999. He earned
$432,000 for finishing second this time.
"I'm obviously disappointed. It was my tournament to win again,
and I didn't get it done on the last hole," Furyk said, referring
to the final hole of regulation.
He had another chance on the first playoff hole, but his birdie
try from 12 feet stayed left of the cup.
Saying he enjoys playing at Summerlin, Furyk said, "You can
make a lot of birdies, but there are a lot of disasters waiting to
happen."
Such as the lake at No. 17.
"I was definitely outside the plane and over the top with my
swing. It never had a shot," Furyk said.
Kevin Stadler, tied for fifth at 15 under heading into the third
round, was disqualified after reporting on the first hole that that
he had an illegal club -- a wedge with a bent shaft -- in his bag.
PGA Tour rules official Slugger White made the ruling after
carefully checking the rules to make sure that Stadler had to be
disqualified. The golfer was walking down the eighth fairway when
the ruling was made official.
Stadler, striding briskly from the clubhouse to the parking lot,
obviously was upset.
"I looked down on the first hole and noticed it," he said.
Asked how the club might have gotten bent, Stadler said, "I
have no idea."
Third-round leader Ted Purdy shot a 71 that left him in a
third-place tie with Harrison Frazar (69) at 19 under.
Purdy, who had fallen two shots behind Furyk, pulled within one
before his tee shot on No. 17 hit a sprinkler head on the bank next
to the green and bounced into the water. He finished with a triple
bogey.
"I took out a 5-iron and I was trying to draw it into the pin
to make a birdie. I drew it too much and it went into the water. In
hindsight, it was a pretty dumb thing to do, but I was trying to
make a birdie," Purdy said.
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