Byrd soars to play-off win but Garrigus still smiling

LOSING out in a playoff for the Tournament of Champions did not remove the smile from Robert Garrigus’s face after a week in which he recorded four successive scores in the sixties.

Garrigus had been tied for the lead going into Sunday’s final round at the Kapalua Resort but he ended a breezy afternoon being pipped to the title by compatriot Jonathan Byrd at the second extra hole.

“It was a great week,” a beaming Garrigus told reporters after effectively handing Byrd the tournament when he three-putted for bogey at the par-four first. “I mean, I shot six under today and was in a playoff.

“I felt like I won the tournament within the tournament for myself because I told myself if I could shoot six (under), I’m going to win. And I had a really good chance of shooting eight (under) today.”

Garrigus, the longest hitter on the PGA Tour for the last two seasons, closed with a sparkling six-under-par 67 for a 24-under total of 268 in the elite, winners-only event.

He had a chance to claim his second Tour title on the final hole of regulation but he lipped out with a 12-foot eagle putt after hitting a superb five-wood for his second shot.

“I just hit that putt too hard,” said the 33-year-old, who booked his place at Kapalua with his maiden PGA Tour victory at the season-ending Disney Classic two months ago.

“I was trying to take all the break out of it, I played straight and I pushed it a centimetre. It hit that lip and didn’t go in.

“But you know what, if you had told me I’d be in a playoff with one of the best players in the world, I’d have said: ‘Hey, bring it on.’ We’ll get ‘em next week. That’s how it goes. That’s golf.”

Garrigus preferred to reflect on the bigger picture after securing a cheque for $635,000 for finishing in second place.

“I’ve lost about 133 golf tournaments, and it’s not that big a deal,” he said. I get a nice cheque and I get to go to Honolulu next week (for the Sony Open), relax and have some fun.”