Tewell edges Darcy out in play-off

Doug Tewell eagled the 17th hole to help force a play-off and then defeated Irish rookie Eamonn Darcy on the third sudden-death hole to win the Farmers Charity Classic.

With Darcy in the clubhouse, Tewell highlighted a six-under-par 66 with an eagle at the par-five 17th and parred the 18th to reach 15-under 201, two strokes better than Morris Hatalsky.

After matching bogeys at the 18th hole and pars at the 10th in the play-off, Tewell sank a 13-foot birdie putt at the 18th to claim his first title of the season and seventh of his Champions Tour career.

“It is great to win,” said Tewell, whose best finish of the year was a tie for third at the Columbus Southern Open. “I had been wondering where it has been.

The victory was worth £135,000 (€194,000), enabling Tewell to move from 20th to 12th on the money list with more than £406,000 (€583,700).

Darcy grabbed the clubhouse lead with a bogey-free seven-under 65, but he missed the green on each of the first two holes in sudden death and left himself with a 50-foot birdie putt on the last.

It still matched the best Champions Tour finish for Darcy, who has been runner-up twice in six starts on golf’s elder circuit.

He lost his first play-off in the United States after going 0-4 on the European Tour.

“Play-offs haven’t been my greatest thing over the years,” said Darcy, the best friend of countryman Christy O’Connor Jr, who won here in 1999.