Toms wins Michelob

David Toms made a 5-foot putt for par on the first extra hole Sunday to beat Mike Weir in the Michelob Championship at Kingsmill.

Toms, who watched Weir's 10-foot effort slide by the left side of the hole moments earlier, won for the fourth time on the PGA TOUR. It was the first playoff for either player, and Toms' first victory this year.

Weir, a left-handed Canadian who cost himself a chance at victory here last year with a bogey on the final hole, appeared to have overcome that when he calmly rolled in a 15-footer to finish at 13-under-par 271.

"It was fortunate that he missed that putt and I had about five or six feet straight up the hill," Toms said.

"All I had to do was hit a good putt. At that point you just want to keep your head down and stroke it and hope you don't hear the crowd go, Ooh.'"

Toms, in a twosome four holes behind, regained the lead with a birdie at the par-5 15th, but gave the stroke back a hole later and parred in to force sudden death.

The playoff began at the 18th hole, and Weir's drive stopped on a steep downward slope, causing him to leave his approach short. He recovered by chipping within 10 feet of the cup but then read a slight break in a putt that didn't turn.

Toms, who split the fairway with his drive and hit his approach onto the front of the green, coolly knocked in his second putt for the victory. He earned $540,000 and moved into the top 20 on the money list.

Toms wound up as the sole survivor of a final-round battle much like the first three rounds. Many players challenged for and shared the lead, only to stumble and fall back.
Weir, playing for the first time in a month, made the move of the day with a 7-under 64. He made up for a bogey at the second hole with a 5-under 30 on the back nine to match his best final round.

Toms, who started the round two shots behind, trimmed four strokes from par on his first eight holes to take the lead. Then he gave a shot back but rallied again before his second bogey cost him a chance to win in regulation. He also missed a long putt to win it on the 72nd hole and finished regulation play with a 66.
Frank Lickliter shot a 69 to finish alone in third, and Tom Scherrer rallied for a 67 for fourth. Third-round leader Bradley Hughes , who closed with a 72, and three others shared fifth at 275.

For Weir, the closing birdie was a bit of a triumph in itself. Last year, he led throughout the final round until he drove into the rough on the final hole, had to chip back into play and two-putted for bogey.
Missing that 15-footer cost him a spot in a playoff between Tom Byrum and Notah Begay III. Begay won with a par on the second hole.

"Standing up there, I just wanted to hit a good tee shot," Weir said after he finished his round.

He said he saw that Toms had moved to 13 under as he approached the 18th green and knew he had to make his putt.

Others never even got that close.
David Duval , a two-time winner of the Michelob Championship and a victor last week in the Buick Challenge , gained a share of the lead at 10 under on the second hole. But he struggled throughout his round.

Lickliter, who was paired with Duval, reached 11 under on three occasions and shared the lead for a time. But he had three bogeys and parred the last seven holes after reaching 11 under for the final time.
Sean Murphy , who shot a 68; Stephen Ames , who had a 67; and Mike Reid , who shot 69, finished tied with Hughes for fifth.