Tewell captures title at third playoff hole

Doug Tewell might have discovered the perfect remedy for his golf game -- an aching back.

Tewell birdied the third hole of a playoff with Eamonn Darcy of Ireland on Sunday to win the Farmers Charity Classic on the Champions Tours.

Two days before the tournament, Tewell was troubled by back pain. But by Friday's opening round he was fine.

"This game is so crazy," he said. "When you least expect it is when you play well."

Tewell won with a 14-foot putt after the two finished the 54-hole event at 15 under 201. He closed with a 6-under 66 and Darcy with a 65.

Tewell, 53, has won seven times on the Champions Tour but is the Tour's 17th champion in 17 events this year.

He hit a 4-iron from 214 yards to 15 feet on the 518-yard, par-5 17th hole, setting up the eagle putt that put him in the playoff.

"That was one of the best shots I've hit in that situation in a long time," he said.

Darcy had a chance to win on the first playoff hole but missed a 6-foot par putt after using a 5-wood to chip onto the green from the rough behind the green.

"I tweaked it a little left and it stayed left," Darcy said, referring to his putt. "It would have been a very good thing (to win), but it wasn't my turn."

Doug Tewell used a birdie on the third extra hole to capture the title. (AP)
He did make a tricky, 8-foot par putt to tie Tewell on the second playoff hole.

Darcy, a Champions Tour rookie after 31 seasons on the European PGA Tour, is perhaps best known for his 4-foot, downhill putt to defeat Ben Crenshaw in the 1987 Ryder Cup at Muirfield Village.

He has not had much luck in playoffs.

"I tried to keep that out of my head, but it kept creeping back in," he said. "Those playoffs, they haven't been very good to me over the years."

Tewell, who won twice last year, at the Verizon Classic and Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, earned $225,000 for the victory.

Tewell earned 225 Charles Schwab Cup points for winning the Farmers Charity Classic, but John Jacobs collected 240 bonus points for winning the second quarter and continues to hold the lead in the season-long race.

Morris Hatalsky, runner-up to Jay Sigel at this event last year, finished at 203. At 204 were Ed Dougherty, Hubert Green, Bruce Lietzke and Mike McCullough.

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