SAN MARTIN, October 10, 2011 (AFP) - Bryce Molder captured his first win on the PGA Tour by making a six-foot birdie putt on the sixth extra hole to win the Frys.com Open on Sunday.
With the evening light fading on the CordeValle golf course, the 32-year-old American edged Briny Baird in the longest playoff on the tour this year.
"It feels surreal," Molder said. "I played a lot of golf today but it was a lot of fun."
Molder, who toiled for some time on the entry level Nationwide Tour, posted his first victory in 132 attempts at the course southeast of San Jose. His win Sunday earns him a two-year exemption on the USPGA Tour.
"I have been working really hard inside on being confident whether I hit good shots or bad shots because it doesn't change who I am," Molder said. "It took me a long time to get to this point. I am sure I will have to relearn this lesson."
Like Molder, Baird was seeking his first win on tour and is now zero-for-348 in a dozen years on the PGA.
"It is upsetting," Baird said. "I had my chances."
Molder and Baird finished the first four rounds at 17-under 267. Molder rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole in regulation to close with a seven-under 64 and force a sudden-death playoff. He made a nice par save from a hazard on 18 during the fourth playoff hole.
"You practice and hope you get some validation from it," Molder said.
South African Ernie Els shot a closing 68 to finish in a tie for fourth with 14-under 270.
American Tiger Woods had a memorable round for several reasons, shooting his third consecutive 68 to finish in a tie for 30th.
Woods also had a hot dog flung in his direction by an unruly fan on the seventh green while the 14-time major winner was lining up a putt.
The 31-year-old fan was arrested and Woods went on to miss the putt.
The Golf Channel, which was televising the tournament in the US, declined to show the video of the incident, saying they didn't want to reward the attention-seeking fan.
Leading final-round scores here on Sunday at the US PGA Tour's $5 million Frys.com Open (x-won in playoff, USA unless noted, par-71):
267 - x-Bryce Molder 71-67-65-64, Briny Baird 67-69-64-67
269 - Bud Cauley 69-66-68-66
270 - Shane Bertsch 70-68-68-64, Ernie Els (RSA) 69-66-67-68
271 - John Rollins 69-70-65-67
273 - David Hearn (CAN) 71-68-69-65, Billy Horschel 72-68-68-65, Spencer Levin 71-67-69-66, Matt McQuillan (CAN) 70-68-68-67, Brendan Steele 67-71-68-67, Josh Teater 71-68-66-68, Adam Hadwin (CAN) 71-68-64-70, Paul Casey (GBR) 70-64-68-71
...
274 - Sunghoon Kang (KOR) 70-68-69-67
275 - Trevor Immelman (RSA) 70-69-70-66
276 - Rod Pampling (AUS) 68-69-71-68, Arjun Atwal (IND) 71-70-68-67, Cameron Percy (AUS) 71-69-67-69, Charlie Wi (KOR) 72-67-64-73
277 - Tiger Woods 73-68-68-68, Nathan Green (AUS) 72-64-70-71
278 - Marc Leishman (AUS) 72-66-72-68
280 - Angel Cabrera (ARG) 74-65-69-72, Greg Chalmers (AUS) 69-73-68-70
281 - Matt Jones (AUS) 68-72-68-73, Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 74-69-67-71, Steven Bowditch (AUS) 68-70-73-70
282 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 71-70-71-70, Steve Elkington (AUS) 74-69-69-70
286 - Fabian Gomez (ARG) 72-70-71-73