Once again, Luke Donald will be the No. 1 player in the Official World Golf Ranking.
With a 7-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a four-man sudden-death playoff, Donald won the Transitions Championship over Jim Furyk, Robert Garrigus and Sang-Moon Bae and earned enough points to regain the No. 1 ranking, which he had lost to Rory McIlroy.
Garrigus missed an 8-footer for birdie before Donald drained the winning putt.
All four players finished regulation at Innisbrook’s Copperhead Course at 13 under par. Donald closed with 5-under 66, while Garrigus shot 64 earlier in the day to set the pace. Bae shot 68, while Furyk shot 69 in the final group.
Needing a win to guarantee a 19th consecutive Masters start, Ernie Els made bogey at the uphill par-4 18th to drop into a tie for fifth place. He is joined by Scott Piercy, who shot 62 early on Sunday, as well as Jeff Overton and Ken Duke.
Donald will likely remain the No. 1 player heading into the Masters, as now No. 2 McIlroy will not play until returning to Augusta National.
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by John Hawkins | Mar 18, 2012 10:09 PM ETLuke and Ernie had big opportunities Sunday. Donald climbed back to No. 1, but Els wasted his best shot at the Masters. Read More
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by Doug Ferguson | Mar 18, 2012 7:16 PM ETLuke Donald birdied the first playoff hole to win the Transitions Championship and seamlessly settled back into the world’s top spot. Read More
Ballengee is a GolfChannel.com contributor who writes for GTC and Fantasy Insider.
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