American pair head to play-off

History was being made in Atlanta tonight, but a play-off was needed to decide whether it was Jason Dufner – five clear with only four to play – or fellow American Keegan Bradley who achieved it.

They went into a three-hole play-off for the USPGA Championship, but whoever came out on top it would bring about a golfing first – never before have seven majors in a row been taken by first-time winners.

Dufner, without a victory of any sort in 147 previous starts on the PGA Tour, looked certain to triumph leaving the 14th green at 11 under par.

He had that huge lead, but, in an unbelievable finish, it was wiped out by the time he reached the final tee and it was to his credit that he parred the 471-yard par four to force three extra holes.

Keegan, trying to become the first player to win on his first appearance in a major since Ben Curtis at Sandwich in 2003, had triple-bogeyed the 15th, but birdied the 16th and made a 40-footer for another at the short 17th.

Dufner followed Bradley into the water on the 15th, got away with a bogey with a 12-foot putt, but then dropped more shots on the next two as the pressure built.

Swede Robert Karlsson felt it too. He had been one behind, but bogeyed the last three and allowed Dane Anders Hansen to come third on seven under, one behind the leaders.

The shock was that on the first three days, Dufner was three under par for holes 15 to 18, two better than anybody else in the field. But they got him in the end just like they got just about everybody else at some stage.

Luke Donald and Lee Westwood finished joint eighth, their late errors in the third round proving too much to recover from.

World number one Donald, so annoyed at himself for double-bogeying the last hole of his third round and falling six behind, was only three back after playing his first 12 holes in four under.

But he went in the water on the short 15th – start of the fearsome closing stretch at the Athletic Club – and bogeyed the last as well for only a 68.

World number two Westwood also finished three under par and also bogeyed the last – his only dropped stroke of a day when he once more could not get the putts to drop.

Westwood, playing his 55th major, said: “I played lovely again today. It’s just one of those things.

“I felt like I stroked it a little bit better, but, having said that, I missed twice inside six feet in the first five holes.

“When you’re looking to get off to a quick start that is not ideal. Then it was in the water at six and I made a nice 10-footer there for par.

“I didn’t really hole that much, apart from 10 feet on 10.

“I have enjoyed playing great for a long time now, but unfortunately when I turn up to majors and I don’t win it’s a disappointing week for everybody it seems – and obviously for me.”

Donald commented: “It was a missed opportunity again. At the beginning of the day I thought if I could get to six or seven under I might have a chance.

“But the guys out front really made it tough – they are playing well – and I thought I had to press a little bit hard and take on some pins on those last few holes.

“Obviously I hit a poor shot on 15. I just didn’t strike it well enough.”

Rory McIlroy grabbed a birdie at the 507-yard par four 18th for the second day running, but his mind was turning to tennis rather than golf by then.

Pre-tournament favourite McIlroy was left with bitter memories of one hole in particular as he shot 74 to finish alongside Padraig Harrington in 64th spot in what is likely to be his last round in America for over six months.

The 22-year-old US Open champion played Atlanta Athletic Club’s 475-yard third in six over par over the tournament – and the other 17 in the same score.

Not only that, but it was also where he injured his right arm hitting against a tree root in the opening round of the season’s final major.

McIlroy triple-bogeyed it in his last round, going over the green from a bunker and then three-putting from three feet.

The Northern Ireland star is rejoining the PGA Tour next season, but his next appearance on the circuit may not be until the WGC-Accenture Match Play in late February.

He had talked of going off house-hunting in Florida this coming week, but in a change of plan he was heading off to Cincinnati.

“I hear it’s nice this time of year,” he said with a smile. It just so happens that tennis world number one Caroline Wozniacki is playing there. The pair have been romantically linked.

“I am going to take a couple of weeks off to rest the wrist. I’m going to Cincinnati for a few days, home for the weekend and then go back out to New York.

“It will be nice and I will enjoy my two weeks off.”

Why New York? The US Open tennis begins on August 29, with a warm-up event at nearby Yale University, where Wozniacki has won the last three years.

Harrington is altering his movements as well. He has entered this week’s Wyndham Championship in North Carolina to try to qualify for the PGA Tour FedEx Cup play-offs.

Londoner Brian Davis finished level par, Ian Poulter four over, Ross Fisher five over, Simon Dyson six over and Paul Casey 14 over. Not quite last, but close to it.