Jason Dufner lists Ben Hogan as his hero. At Hogan’s Alley, Dufner had the lead halfway through the Colonial with a chance for a Texas two-step that only Hogan has accomplished.LA QUINTA, Calif. – Mark Wilson made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Humana Challenge on Sunday, beating Robert Garrigus, John Mallinger and Johnson Wagner by two strokes in a dramatic dusk finish to the wind-delayed tournament.
Moments after Garrigus barely missed a 35-foot eagle putt that would have given him the lead, Wilson coolly made his birdie try in the disappearing light, calmly celebrating his fifth career PGA Tour victory.
“Robert and I, going back and forth, we really enjoyed that,” Wilson said. “It just came down to 18, and I didn’t want to give him a chance to make that putt to tie me. … That’s what we play for. You want somebody to win it, not necessarily to lose it.”
Wilson led by three strokes Sunday morning after finishing his third round, which was delayed by ferocious wind Saturday. Wilson quickly gave away the lead on the low-scoring Palmer Private course, but played bogey-free over the final 15 holes while every other competitor dropped back – including Garrigus, who fell out of the lead when he missed a 5 1/2 -foot par putt on the 17th.
Wilson closed with a 3-under 69 to finish at 24 under, taking the $1,008,000 winner’s share of the $5.6 million purse.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: In Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii, Dan Forsman won the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship his third Champions Tour title, closing with a 3-under 69 in windy conditions for a two-stroke victory over Jay Don Blake.
Forsman, 53, a five-time winner on the PGA Tour, finished with a 15-under 201 total at Hualalai Resort. He opened with rounds of 67 and 65 to take a two-stroke lead into the final round.
Blake finished with a 67.
John Cook, the 2011 winner, shot a 68 to tie for third with Michael Allen at 12 under.
EUROPEAN PGA: In George, South Africa, Branden Grace beat his more experienced South African countrymen Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in a playoff to win the Volvo Golf Champions. Grace birdied the first playoff hole at The Links at Fancourt – the par-five 18th – to earn his second consecutive victory on the European Tour, having won last week’s Joburg Open. Both Els and Goosen parred the hole. The three players had finished the final round in a tie on 12-under 280.
