PALM COAST, Florida (AFP) — Ryan Palmer drained a 10-foot birdie putt at the final hole on Sunday to break out of a six-way tie and win the 4.6 million-dollar Ginn sur Mer Classic golf tournament.
Palmer carded a final-round 71 and finished with a 72-hole total of 281 and a second career victory that guarantees his US tour playing privileges for two more years.
"Knowing the work I've put in this year - I've never practiced the way I've been practicing," an emotional Palmer said.
"It has been a lot of sweat, and it's great to finally show it. I knew it was coming."
Palmer, whose previous US tour victory was the 2004 FUNAI Classic, had gone into the penultimate tournament of 2008 ranked 143rd on the money list, outside of the top 125 who book their cards for next season.
His hopes of a big jump appeared to take a hit when he had to call a penalty on himself at the 10th, where he made bogey, then promptly hit his tee shot into the water at 11 en route to a double-bogey.
But Palmer rallied to finish one stroke in front of George McNeill (69), Nicholas Thompson (69), Vaughn Taylor (70), Ken Duke (71) and Michael Letzig (73).
Overnight leader Letzig had a chance to force a playoff with a birdie at the final hole, but couldn't do it as the rain-disrupted round finished in waning light at the Ginn Hammock Beach Resort.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
