LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Byrd and his playing partners figured there was barely enough light left to play one more hole.
Turns out Byrd only needed one more swing.
In a swift and shocking finish Sunday, Byrd made a hole-in-one with a 6-iron on the fourth extra hole to win a three-man playoff in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital Open. The PGA Tour said it was the first sudden-death playoff decided by an ace.
“It’s kind of hard to process because I’m still kind of in shock,” Byrd said.
Moments earlier, it looked as though the tournament might not finish until today — without Byrd.
Byrd’s approach on the 18th hole tumbled over the green and was one hop away from going into the water when it settled into a clump of grass. He chipped up to 7 feet and saved par to stay in the playoff.
Then came the decision.
Byrd, defending champion Martin Laird and Cameron Percy — they each made par on the three playoff holes — discussed whether there was enough light to continue. They agreed to go one more hole — the 204-yard 17th at the TPC Summerlin — with the understanding any of them could stop if they couldn’t read their putts on the green.
That wasn’t necessary.
Byrd had the honors and hit a slight draw toward the flag. That’s about all he saw. The ball landed about 10 feet short of the hole and rolled in.
Byrd said he tried to control his emotion because Laird and Percy still had to tee off.
Both hit into the water, and Byrd had his fourth PGA Tour victory.
Players have made an eagle with a full swing on the final hole to win tournaments.
Among the more memorable were Isao Aoki in the Hawaiian Open in 1983, Robert Gamez at Bay Hill in 1990 and Craig Parry to win a playoff on the 18th hole at Doral in 2004.
But a hole-in-one with a PGA Tour title on the line? That was a first.
“You’re never prepared for a hole-in-one,” said Laird, a Colorado State graduate who shot a final-round 69.
Laird, who tied for second at the first playoff event — The Barclays — moved up to 35th on the money list.
Byrd closed with a 68, and he had to watch four times — once in regulation, three times in a playoff — as Laird stood over a birdie putt with a chance to win.
Percy sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole for a 67 that got him into the playoff.
Footnotes.
Fred Couples shot a 9-under 63 for a seven- stroke victory at the Administaff Small Business Classic in The Woodlands, Texas. Couples finished at 17-under 199 for his fourth Champions Tour victory of the year.
• Jimin Kang won the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, beating Juli Inkster by a stroke when the 50-year- old Hall of Famer bogeyed the final hole.
