Sabbatini beat veterans

FORT WORTH – South African Rory Sabbatini dropped a 15-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to win the US PGA Crowne Plaza Invitational here Sunday, beating veterans Bernhard Langer and Jim Furyk.

Sabbatini fittingly made his winning stroke in a downpour at an event that was halted the first three days by showers, forcing the entire field to finish the third round in the morning before fighting to an early evening conclusion. It was Masters runner-up Sabbatini’s fourth career PGA title and his first since capturing last year’s Nissan Open title at Riviera.”It was just a great week,” Sabbatini said.”It feels so good.I had a lot of friends here.Thank goodness I pulled through so we can celebrate.”Third-ranked US star Furyk, the only top-12 player in the event, missed a long birdie effort in the playoff, the third trip to the 18th hole for each man on the day.Sabbatini followed with his clutch putt, watching it all the way into the hole.”About four feet to go, I knew there was pretty much no chance of that putt missing,” Sabbatini said.”When I looked up and saw that, it was a good feeling.”There are very few things in life that, to me, are as amazing as when you hit a putt and know you hit it on the line, you want it to and you see it go right in the middle of the hole.”When German star Langer, who turns 50 in August, slid his 10-foot birdie bid an inch right of the cup, the 1.08 million-dollar top prize went to Sabbatini.Langer, a two-time Masters champion, was impressed with Sabbatini’s final stroke.”Rory made a great putt,” Langer said.”He was quite a bit further away than me – several feet – and hit it right in the middle of the hole.I looked at the putt and felt very comfortable with my read …but I pushed it.”Furyk, Sabbatini and Langer each finished 72 holes on 14-under par 266 after firing final-round 67s in the afternoon.Nampa-AFPIt was Masters runner-up Sabbatini’s fourth career PGA title and his first since capturing last year’s Nissan Open title at Riviera.”It was just a great week,” Sabbatini said.”It feels so good.I had a lot of friends here.Thank goodness I pulled through so we can celebrate.”Third-ranked US star Furyk, the only top-12 player in the event, missed a long birdie effort in the playoff, the third trip to the 18th hole for each man on the day.Sabbatini followed with his clutch putt, watching it all the way into the hole.”About four feet to go, I knew there was pretty much no chance of that putt missing,” Sabbatini said.”When I looked up and saw that, it was a good feeling.”There are very few things in life that, to me, are as amazing as when you hit a putt and know you hit it on the line, you want it to and you see it go right in the middle of the hole.”When German star Langer, who turns 50 in August, slid his 10-foot birdie bid an inch right of the cup, the 1.08 million-dollar top prize went to Sabbatini.Langer, a two-time Masters champion, was impressed with Sabbatini’s final stroke.”Rory made a great putt,” Langer said.”He was quite a bit further away than me – several feet – and hit it right in the middle of the hole.I looked at the putt and felt very comfortable with my read …but I pushed it.”Furyk, Sabbatini and Langer each finished 72 holes on 14-under par 266 after firing final-round 67s in the afternoon.Nampa-AFP