Hoch beats Furyk at third playoff hole

Scott Hoch, who on Sunday night refused to putt on the second playoff hole of the Ford Championship at Doral due to darkness, birdied the third playoff hole this morning to beat Jim Furyk for his 11th U.S. PGA Tour title.

``I guarantee you I would not have been able to do that last night, so it was the right decision,'' said Hoch, who was jeered by hundreds of spectators lining the 18th hole on Sunday night. ``I feel sorry for the fans, but I felt it was best for me.''

After returning to the Miami course this morning, Hoch sank his nine-foot birdie putt, which slid into the right side of the hole. Furyk then made his seven-footer, sending both players to the par-4 18th hole.

Hoch's drive hit the middle of the fairway, while Furyk's landed in the left fairway bunker. Hoch then hit his second shot to within six feet of the hole. Furyk, who was slightly blocked by a palm tree on his second shot, two-putted from 25 feet for par, while Hoch made birdie to earn the $900,000 first-place check. Furyk receives $540,000.

Hoch, 47, has been bothered by vision problems and had three laser surgeries on his eyes, leading to his decision to delay play.

`Let Them Putt'

Furyk, 32, said he was willing to continue the playoff Sunday night, but understood Hoch's decision. If both players made the putts last night, it's unlikely play would have continued for another hole.

The decision wasn't popular with fans, who chanted ``let them putt'' and jeered Hoch as he walked off the green at the Blue Course at the Doral Resort and Spa in Miami.

Furyk said he was bothered more by the outcome than waiting 14 hours to finish the tournament.

``It's more frustrating to lose in a playoff when you have a chance to win than finishing 10th, said Furyk, whose most recent title came at the Memorial Tournament last May.

Hoch and Furyk finished regulation play tied at 17-under-par 271, two shots better than Bob Tway. Hoch, who shared the lead with Tway entering yesterday's final round, shot a 3-under 69, while Furyk had a 68.

The tour's Florida swing continues with the Honda Classic, which begins Thursday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

Darkness halts Hoch-Furyk playoff

Deteriorating light forced Scott Hoch and Jim Furyk to suspend their playoff at the second extra hole of the $5 million Ford Championship on Sunday.

Furyk had shot a final-round 68 to catch overnight joint-leader Hoch (69) at 17-under-par 271 and force the pair into a sudden-death shootout.

After the players had reached the green of the par-five first hole, their second, Hoch decided that he could not read his putt properly. With darkness descending and the crowd chanting for play to continue, Hoch assessed his nine-foot birdie putt.

He could see the hole, but not the breaks on the green and requested a suspension of play to tour official Slugger White, who was monitoring the playoff.

"I got my eyes fixed but he didn't give me night vision," said Hoch, who has had three operations on his eyes over the past 12 months.

"If I was going to putt that, then I would have to go on guess work, what I thought the green was doing, and not what I saw. I wouldn't be able to tell if it was going right or left."

White told both players that if they could not see their putts properly, they could express their concern.

Hoch took advantage of the offer and Furyk agreed that it was too dark to continue.

The pair will return to the course and resume the contest at 8 a.m. (1300 GMT) on Monday.

"I agreed it was difficult to read the putt out there," Furyk said. "I've got no problems with the situation. It is awkward."

Although the winner of the event has yet to be decided, third-round joint-leader Bob Tway (71) took third spot at 15-under 273, followed by Tim Petrovic (67) at 14-under 274.

The trio of Kenny Perry (64), Jonathan Byrd (66) and Heath Slocum (67) finished tied for fifth place at 13-under 275.

The playoff began on the 18th hole where both Furyk and Hoch nearly threw away the tournament in regulation.

Furyk, playing in the second to last pairing, hit his wedge approach shot over the green and in the heavy rough next to the grandstand backing the green.

Taking a drop, Furyk was left with a difficult chip that he caressed to within three feet of the hole for his par.

Hoch followed, and did the same exact thing.

Hoch dropped and chipped to within two feet, from where he made the par putt and forced a playoff.

A calm 18 holes in regulation were replaced with two out of the ordinary holes in the playoff.

On the first playoff hole, Hoch drove the fairway and hit his approach to within 20 feet.

Furyk drove into a fairway bunker and was left with a difficult second shot that he hit into the grandstands and required a drop.

"I could have pulled that shot off and hit it on the back center of the green," Furyk said of his second shot.

"That's if I would have hit a very, very good golf shot... but I didn't. I hit an average golf shot from there."

Furyk, instead, hit a very good third-shot chip, made his par and watched as Hoch missed his birdie putt to go to the second playoff hole.

After both players hit poor drives on the 529-yard, par-five hole -- Hoch in a bunker where his ball landed in a footprint and Furyk in the right rough -- both players laid up on the easiest hole of the week.

Both players thought about asking for a suspension prior to their approach shots, but went ahead and played their third shots into the green.

"It's strange," Furyk said of the playoff and suspension.

"The whole day, the whole finish, the first 18 holes were fine, from there on out it was a strange day."

But not unprecedented.

In the 2001 WorldCom Classic, Jose Coceres of Argentina and Billy Mayfair returned on Monday to finish a playoff that was suspended on Sunday due to darkness.

Coceres won the tournament on the fifth extra hole.

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