Toshiba Senior Classic Golf: What a playoff!

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - It wasn’t always pretty, but last year’s memorable

playoff victory by Jose Maria Canizares with a birdie two on the ninth

extra hole was a thing of beauty.

For the second time in Toshiba Senior Classic history, a winner needed

63 holes at Newport Beach Country Club.

With nightfall approaching, Canizares holed a difficult left-to-right

putt from 24 feet at the par-3 17 to seal the deal.

But leading up to the finale was anything but predictable. Fact is,

Canizares and Gil Morgan were both unlikely candidates to take part in a

playoff when the Sunday round started. Morgan opened at seven strokes off

the pace, Canizares was five shots back. But leaders Terry Mauney, Bob

Gilder and Larry Nelson struggled in the final round.

“In golf you always have a chance. In 18 holes, anything is possible,”

said Canizares, after winning last year and earning $210,000 for the

victory, the largest paycheck of his professional golf career.

Morgan missed fairways and greens throughout the playoff, but kept

bailing himself out of trouble.

While Morgan was looking for his ball in the rough, Canizares had

three potential tournament-winning putts lip out in the playoff,

including the first two holes.

The duo had pars on the first six holes, and both birdied the seventh

hole (No. 18 on the course). After pars on the eighth playoff hole,

Canizares ended the second-longest playoff in Senior Tour history with

his birdie putt at 17.

Morgan got up and down for pars after missing greens on each of the

first two playoff holes, then repeated the feat from a greenside bunker

on the sixth extra hole (No. 17).

On the seventh playoff hole (par-5 No. 18), Morgan launched his drive

behind a tree in the right rough, but worked a low running hook into the

fairway, before pitching to 16 feet of the cup and sinking a birdie putt.

Morgan, on the eighth playoff hole (No. 16), had a chance to win it,

but an eight-foot birdie putt lipped out.

That opened the door for Canizares, who watched three of his own putts

lip out in the overtime.

Canizares hit a 3-iron to the green at 17, then sank his long putt

that curled right, posting only the fourth birdie of the day on the

signature hole, which played as the toughest hole on the course in the

final round.

Canizares, one of five first-round leaders, captured his first event

on the Senior Tour and first title anywhere since 1992 on the European

Tour.

Canizares, who had potential tournament-winning putts lip out on the

first, second and fourth playoff holes, rallied in the final round with a

4-under 67 to earn his way into a playoff with Morgan at 11-under.

The longest playoff in Senior Tour history was a 10-hole playoff

between David Graham and Dave Stockton at the 1998 Royal Caribbean

Classic, won by Graham.