Lee Westwood benefited from a nightmare finish in regulation by American Robert Garrigus to end a 12-year title drought on the PGA Tour with a gripping playoff victory at the St. Jude Classic Sunday. The British world No. 3 calmly drained a five-foot birdie putt at the fourth extra hole at the TPC Southwind to edge out Swede Robert Karlsson, who had been seeking a maiden win on the US circuit. The Englishman threw his putter to the ground as his ball disappeared into the heart of the cup before he pumped his right fist in celebration. It was Westwood's first victory in the US since the 1998 New Orleans Classic and his fifth top-10 finish in just eight PGA Tour starts this season, including a runner-up spot behind Phil Mickelson at the US Masters in April. Garrigus was desperately unfortunate to exit the playoff after bogeying the first extra hole where a booming three-wood off the tee ended up behind a tree from where he had to chip out sideways on to the fairway. The trio had finished the 72 regulation holes on 10-under-par 270. Westwood closed with a two-under 68, Karlsson carded a 69 and overnight leader Garrigus, three ahead playing the last, triple-bogeyed the 18th for a 71. For much of a hot and humid afternoon at Southwind, the tournament appeared to come down to a head-to-head duel between Westwood and Garrigus. The American, two ahead of the chasing pack going into the final round, made a shaky start by bogeying the first and sixth holes to trail the experienced Englishman by two. Westwood, in contrast, reeled off three consecutive birdies from the second to grab the outright lead but was unable to pick up any further shots for the rest of the round. Garrigus birdied the eighth to reach the turn in one-over 36 and he then drew level with Westwood at the top when he rolled in a 10-footer at the par-four 10th. Further birdies followed at the 15th and 16th, the second of them an 11-footer which prompted Garrigus to pump his right fist in jubilation as he moved two ahead. Moments later, the American was three strokes clear after Westwood bogeyed the 17th, having found the right rough off the tee and taken another three shots to reach the green. With his maiden tour victory firmly within his grasp, Garrigus succumbed to the pressure on the 18th tee. He pulled his drive into water, took a penalty drop and then pulled his third shot low and well left into trees. From there, he punched out into the fairway, hit his fifth on to the green and two-putted for a triple-bogey seven. Kerr wins Classic In Illinois, Cristie Kerr won the rain-disrupted LPGA State Farm Classic Monday, wrapping up a one-shot victory over Sweden's Anna Nordqvist and South Korean Na Yeon Choi. The final round was completed Monday after lengthy weather delays on both Saturday and Sunday. Kerr battled flu-like symptoms along with the late challenges from Choi and Nordqvist to win with a tournament-record total of 22-under-par 266. She completed her closing 69 Monday morning, while Nordqvist finished off a 67 and Choi a 65 for 267. Choi birdied three of her last four holes to challenge for her third LPGA title. Nordqvist, who started Monday morning on the 10th tee, overcame a bogey at 12 with birdies at 13 and 14 but four pars coming home weren't enough. Kerr led by two going into the final hole so her finishing bogey left her in first place. Kerr said she was glad officials decided to complete 72 holes, rather than making her the winner when she led after 54 holes Sunday. “That definitely motivates me to be the top American and top player on tour,” said Kerr, who won $255,000 to move into the second on the money list, $60,000 behind Ai Miyazato. “I'm just happy not to have to answer, ‘Why are there no American winners anymore?' ” “You know, it's hard,” she said. “There was a lot of weather this morning too, and we were lucky to finish. We had to start early to be able to finish the fourth round. “You always want to try and complete the tournament to be able to feel like you earned it. Because if it had been rain-shortened I would have won, but you want to feel like you earned it.”
