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| February 25, 2003 | Tuesday | Zul Hijjah 23, 1423 |
Weir battles back to beat Howell in playoff
PACIFIC PALISADES (California), Feb 24: Mike Weir birdied the second playoff hole to defeat Charles Howell III at the $4.5 million Nissan Open on Sunday, as he completed a remarkable rally from seven shots back in regulation play.
Weir, who won the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic earlier this season, shot a final-round five-under 66 to finish at nine-under 275 and force a playoff with Howell, who stumbled in with a two-over 73.
Three-time major champion Nick Price (72) finished joint third with Fred Funk (68) at seven-under 277.
World number one Tiger Woods (65) and Korean K.J. Choi (72) were joint fifth at six-under 278.
After both Weir and Howell parred the first playoff hole, the par-four 18th, both players took differing approaches at the reachable 315-yard, par-four 10th hole.
Weir laid up with a fairway wood, while Howell tried to drive the green, but hooked his tee shot into a short right bunker.
Weir chipped to within seven feet, while from 45 yards Howell spun a miraculous sand shot to six feet of a short-side pin placement.
Weir, 2-1 in playoffs, sealed the win by making his putt.
Weir began the final round tied for 10th and seven shots back of Howell, who was holding his first 54-hole lead.
The Canadian, who has four top-10 finishes in 2003 and joins South African Ernie Els as the PGA Tour’s only multiple winner of the season, opened his round with a birdie on the par-five first, which played as the easiest hole on the par-71 venue.
After a bogey at the par-three fourth, Weir carded two more birdies for an outward 33.
He added birdies at the 10th and 11th holes, and a final birdie at the pivotal par-five 17th to reach nine under.
In his first win the season, Weir came from four shots back in the final round to win.
On Sunday, Weir said he did not think about winning until he birdied the 11th.
All five of his PGA Tour wins have been coming from behind.
Howell birdied his first hole, but then began to unravel at the par-four seventh.
Howell carded four bogeys in an eight-hole stretch to slide back to nine under and into a tie with Weir and Price, who bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes to fade.
Howell played the three par-fives in 10-under for the week, but made only par at the 17th.
Leading scores (US unless stated):
275 Mike Weir (Canada) 72 68 69 66, Charles Howell III 69 65 68 73
277 Fred Funk 65 74 70 68, Nick Price (Zimbabwe) 68 67 70 72
278 Tiger Woods 72 68 73 65, K.J. Choi (South Korea) 70 69 67 72
279 Fred Couples 74 68 69 68
280 Chad Campbell 73 70 66 71, Len Mattiace 69 67 71 73
281 Shaun Micheel 74 69 72 66, Darren Clarke (Britain) 71 74 68 68, Dan Forsman 76 66 70 69, Marco Dawson 72 73 66 70, Duffy Waldorf 70 69 70 72, Bob Estes 69 71 68 73, Rich Beem 73 65 69 74
282 Niclas Fasth (Sweden) 75 66 73 68, Brenden Pappas (South Africa) 74 67 72 69, Stephen Ames (Trinidad) 70 69 72 71, Stewart Cink 73 67 69 73, Steve Elkington (Australia) 68 73 67 74, Brandt Jobe 74 67 67 74, Angel Cabrera (Argentina) 75 68 65 74
283 Lee Janzen 70 71 72 70, Olin Browne 72 73 70 68, Hidemichi Tanaka (Japan) 72 68 72 71, Jeff Sluman 68 74 69 72—Reuters
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