By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MIAMI (AFP) — Brice Garnett sank an eight-foot birdie putt on the fourth playoff hole to defeat fellow American Erik Barnes on Sunday, March 10, and win the US PGA Tour Puerto Rico Open.
Garnett, struggling at 40 just to keep his PGA playing rights in his first start of the season, outlasted Barnes to capture his second PGA victory, his first since the 2016 Corales Puntacana Championship in the Dominican Republic.
“I told somebody at home last week I wouldn’t still be playing if I didn’t believe I could do this,” Garnett said, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I just came with such a thankful heart this week. I was so excited for the opportunity to compete out here again.”
Garnett and Barnes each turned in bogey-free final rounds to finish 72 holes deadlocked on 19-under par 269 at Grande Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande to reach the playoff, Barnes shooting 68 and Garnett 69.
Garnett thanked family, friends and coaches, admitting: “I think they probably believed in me more than I believed in myself the last two years. It’s hard, but, you know, this is why we do it.”
In the last round, Garnett left his birdie putt five feet short at 17 but rolled the par putt around the lip and in to stay level with Barnes.
Garnett’s third shot at the 18th in regulation hung on the lip of a greenside bunker, but he punched onto the green and sank a tense seven-foot par putt to force the playoff.
World number 535 Garnett and 452nd-ranked Barnes staged the entire playoff at the par-5 18th, where they both parred the first and third extra holes and birdied the second, Barnes from just outside 15 feet and Garnett from seven feet in response.
On the decisive fourth extra hole, Barnes found the back fringe with his third shot while Garnett landed eight feet from the hole.
Garnett curled in his right-to-left birdie putt with a fist-pump flourish and Barnes, chasing his first PGA title, missed his seven-footer to end the longest playoff in tournament history.
“It’s huge,” Garnett said of the hard-fought triumph. “Three more years on this tour, some events that I get in, the opportunity to get in bigger events.”
Frenchman Victor Perez and Americans Jimmy Stanger and Hayden Springer shared third on 270.
The tournament was played opposite this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill, one of the PGA Tour’s signature events designed to showcase the game’s top talent.
