O'Malley wins New Zealand PGA in playoff

Peter O'Malley beat fellow Australian Steven Bowditch in a playoff to win the New Zealand PGA in Christchurch on Sunday.

O'Malley, 39, birdied the fourth extra hole to capture the seventh professional title of his career after the pair had finished tied on 14-under-par 274.

Bowditch, who won last week's South Australian Open, started the day six shots behind joint overnight leader O'Malley but charged through the field with a course record-equalling nine-under 63 at the Clearwater Resort.

O'Malley carded a 69 but should have sealed victory on the last regulation hole when he missed a par putt from four feet.

Americans Jerry Smith and Johnson Wagner finished joint third on 11-under, one stroke clear of compatriots Troy Matteson and Brandt Snedeker and Australian Steven Jeffress.

Bowditch collected nine birdies in his round, including six in seven holes from the eighth. He missed an eagle putt on the par-five 14th.

He saved par with a long putt on the 15th and failed to take birdie chances on each of the final two holes.

Playing the 18th again to decide the winner, O'Malley and Bowditch halved the hole three times with successive par-fours before O'Malley sank a 25-foot birdie putt to clinch the title.

The New Zealand PGA is an Australasian tournament co-sanctioned by the U.S. PGA's secondary tour.

274 Peter O'Malley (Aus) 66 68 71 69, Steven Bowditch (Aus) 64 71 76 63 (O'Malley wins at fourth play-off hole)

277 Johnson Wagner 68 69 68 72, Jerry Smith 70 70 67 70

278 Troy Matteson 70 70 68 70, Steven Jeffress (Aus) 67 72 69 70, Brandt Snedeker 69 68 70 71

279 Camilo Villegas (Col) 69 67 71 72, Jaxon Brigman 69 69 70 71, Kris Cox 68 72 72 67, Kim Felton (Aus) 70 71 66 72, Craig Carmichael (Aus) 70 69 72 68

280 Jeff Gove 67 68 70 75, Scott Sterling 69 72 70 69, Joel Kribel 74 68 71 67, Scott Weatherly 70 69 76 65, Greg Kraft 69 71 72 68, Jon Mills (Can) 66 70 75 69

281 Mahal Pearce (Aus) 73 68 67 73, Pat Bates 70 70 74 67, Ricky Barnes 68 70 72 71

282 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 67 67 72 76, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 69 72 71 70, Dan Olsen 71 69 73 69

283 Nathan Green (Aus) 70 71 71 71, Jim Rutledge (Can) 71 71 73 68, Charley Hoffman 73 69 74 67, Jason Schultz 68 69 75 71, Tony Christie (Nzl) 66 73 77 67

284 David McKenzie (Aus) 71 69 71 73, Ryan Haller (Aus) 73 69 71 71, Chris Downes (Aus) 69 70 73 72, Chris Campbell (Aus) 73 69 72 70, Matthew Ecob (Aus) 70 70 71 73, Barry Cheeseman 71 71 71 71, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 69 73 72 70, Vance Veazey 69 70 71 74

285 Brent Schwarzrock 66 72 72 75, Douglas Labelle 70 71 74 70, Rick Price 71 70 72 72, Michael Wright (Aus) 72 69 73 71, Tim O'Neal 71 69 77 68, David Sutherland 71 71 72 71, Jim McGovern 71 66 72 76, Shane Bertsch 69 72 72 72, Brad Heaven (Nzl) 73 68 74 70

286 Bubba Watson 71 69 71 75, Bryce Molder 67 74 72 73, Kyle Thompson 68 74 70 74

287 Ken Duke 67 72 75 73, Chad Collins 72 68 75 72, Steve Alker (Nzl) 71 69 80 67

288 David Smail (Nzl) 69 69 78 72, Chris Tidland 69 72 71 76, Brian Kortan 71 71 72 74, Wayne Grady (Aus) 68 74 74 72

289 Shane Tait (Aus) 71 71 70 77, Kevin Durkin 74 68 76 71

292 Darren Beck (Aus) 66 73 80 73, Ryan Armour 72 68 77 75, Craig Jones (Aus) 75 67 75 75

296 Gavin Flint (Aus) 70 72 76 78

298 Kurt Barnes (Aus) 71 69 79 79

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