Billy Horschel beat Jason Day in a play-off at the AT&T Byron Nelson in Texas to claim his fourth PGA Tour title.
The 30-year-old American carded a final round 69 at TPC Las Colinas to tie on 12 under after 72 holes with Australian world No.3 Day.
Both players made pars on the 17th, before leaving birdie chances short on the 18th to set up the play-off. Day needed to hole a four-foot put to keep the playoff alive, but it slipped agonisingly past the cup to hand the title to Horschel came into the tournament having missed four consecutive cuts, and hadn’t won on the PGA Tour since the Tour Championship in 2014, which saw him capture the FedEx Cup and a $10 million bonus.
He began the final day one shot behind overnight leader John Hahn. But Hahn hit three consecutive bogeys on the back nine to finish one back in third, while Canadian Jason Kokrak, who held a five-shot lead after 36 holes, claimed fourth with weekend rounds of 72 and 70.
Horschel’s fourth career win elevated him from 76th to 44th in the world rankings, earning an exemption into next month’s US Open at Erin Hills.
“It’s really surreal,” said Horschel. “This is probably the most emotional I’ve ever been after a win. I’m sort of speechless, because the other three wins I’ve had in my career have come from really good play. Coming in here, off the back of missing four straight cuts, and not having of any type of momentum, I wasn’t expecting much, but I kind of felt at peace.”
For Day, it was the first playoff defeat of his career, having won the previous three. And it comes on the back of a difficult season for the former US PGA champion, who has been battling with illness and injury problems, as well as his mother’s cancer diagnosis.