Knox had a chance to win the tournament on the 18th but he missed a 12-foot putt for par to set up a sudden-death play-off with McDowell and American Jason Bohn. Knox will return to face a short eagle chip on the same hole on Monday morning.
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He then reached five-under for the day after a birdie at the par-five 13th. “It’s a definitely a plus, because the last couple of days I’ve been making a lot of mistakes”.
Bohn and Knox could only make par, leaving McDowell to hold his nerve and secure his first victory since 2013.
It will be the second straight week that a PGA Tour event went to Monday because of rain.
He has just one top-10 finish in 25 worldwide starts this year and has fallen to 85th in the Official World Golf Ranking. I’ve been dreaming of this day and I said that I was going to appreciate it when it came. “You ask yourself those questions”, McDowell said.
McDowell has not had a top 10 since the Dubai Desert Classic in February.
McDowell was six under through 13 holes and Knox had picked up six shots through 12 to be two strokes clear atop the leaderboard.
“I wanted to smash a six-iron, he said “this is a five-iron shot”, recalled McDowell, who executed it to perfection and effectively changed his entire season from a poor one into a good one. But the 36-year-old from Northern Ireland had such a mediocre season that he returned to America to get a head start on the new PGA Tour season. “Thankfully, I had another year of exemption, but I couldn’t be in this position this time next year regardless”, he said. Enjoying life off the golf course with my attractive family.
It turned out to be a great decision.
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The victory assures McDowell will be in the Masters next year, along with the PGA Championship and The Players Championship.
