Frazar notches first PGA victory

Harrison Frazar hugs caddie Marcel LeBas after winning the St. Jude Classic on the third playoff hole. (Jeff Roberson/Associated Press)

Associated Press / June 13, 2011

Harrison Frazar won his first PGA Tour title in his 355th tournament, beating Robert Karlsson with a par on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff yesterday at the St. Jude Classic in Memphis.

Frazar won a month before turning 40 when Karlsson pushed a par-saving putt 3 feet past the hole.

Now the man who was roommates at Texas with Justin Leonard has the biggest paycheck of his career, taking home $1,008,000 after missing a chance to win on the 72d hole when he made his first bogey of the day. He shot a 3-under-par 67 to match Karlsson (68) at 13 under.

“I never thought it would happen, to be honest with you,’’ Frazar said.

Frazar became the seventh first-time winner on tour this year and the first to win his first title in Memphis since Dicky Pride in 1994.

Karlsson led after the second and third rounds, and he has shot below par in his last eight rounds here. Now the Swede has lost in a playoff at the TPC Southwind course for a second straight year.

Camilo Villegas (64) tied for third with Tim Herron, Ryuji Imada, Charles Howell, and Retief Goosen. Lee Westwood, the defending champion, finished tied for 11th.

Frazar had been thinking of quitting. He turns 40 July 29, misses his family back in Texas, and is playing this year on a major medical exemption after surgeries on his hip and shoulder last summer. He came to Memphis having made four of nine cuts, though he just qualified for this week’s US Open at Congressional.

“It’s pretty cool,’’ Frazar said.

LPGA — At Springfield, Ill., top-ranked Yani Tseng won what could be the final State Farm Classic, closing with a 4-under 68 to hand Cristie Kerr her third straight second-place finish.

Tseng had a 21-under 267 total on the Panther Creek course for her seventh tour title in four years. She also won the season-opening LPGA Thailand.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘Focus! Focus!’ ’’ said Tseng, bogey-free the final two rounds. “I missed a couple of putts, but I still was able to make some birdies.’’

Kerr, the 2010 winner, finished three strokes back, shooting a 67.

Paula Creamer (67) and Brittany Lincicome (70) tied for third at 16 under.

Title sponsor State Farm Insurance Companies has declined to renew its commitment after this year and a replacement sponsor has yet to be found, putting the event in danger of folding.

European — Robert Rock completed a wire-to-wire victory at the Italian Open in Fiano to earn his first tour title, shooting a 5-under 67 to fend off a charge by Thorbjorn Olesen.

The 34-year-old Englishman finished at 21-under 267 at the Royal Park Roveri club for a one-stroke victory over Olesen and Gary Boyd.

Olesen put pressure on Rock from the start in shooting a 62, while Boyd had a 66.

Italians Matteo Manassero and Francesco Molinari — the only two players ranked in the top 50 entered — ended in a tie for eighth at 16 under then flew off for the US Open.

Champions — Mark Wiebe parred the third playoff hole following a weather delay and won the Greater Hickory Classic in Conover, N.C., when James Mason missed a 4-foot par putt.

Wiebe earned his first tour title since 2008. Mason, a Monday qualifier, three-putted from 20 feet to end his chances of earning a one-year playing exemption.

Nationwide — Kyle Thompson won the Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C., for the second time in five years, birdieing the final hole for a one-stroke victory over Scott Brown, Troy Kelly, and Martin Flores.

Thompson closed with a 3-under 68 to finish at 14-under 270 at TPC Wakefield Plantation.

He earned $99,000 for his third tour title and jumped to No. 6 on the money list.

Posting Source: http://www.boston.com/sports/golf/articles/2011/06/13/frazar_notches_first_pga_victory/