Molder wins longest playoff at CordeValle

Bryce Molder won the Frys.com Open after the longest playoff this year on the PGA Tour.

Molder made a 6-foot birdie putt on the sixth extra hole Sunday at CordeValle to outlast Briny Baird and capture his first tour victory in his 132nd attempt. “It’s a little surreal right now,” Molder said. “That’s a lot of golf today.”

Tiger Woods managed to make news when a fan ran toward the seventh green as he was putting and tossed a hot dog in his direction. The 31-year-old was arrested and never came close to Woods.

“I guess he wanted to be in the news,” Woods said. “And I’m sure he will be.”

It was the 17th playoff on this year’s PGA Tour, setting a modern era record dating to 1970.

Baird looked like a winner when he chipped in from short of the 17th green for eagle in regulation to take a one-shot lead. In the group ahead of him, Molder rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th to close with a 7-under 64, which got him into the playoff.

Baird, who now is 0-for-348 in his 12 years trying to win on tour, shot a 4-under 67. He twice had birdie putts on the 18th in the playoff to win, missing from 8 feet and 12 feet. Molder had three chances to win with eagle putts on the 284-yard 17th, missing from 20 feet, 15 feet and 12 feet, all from about the same line.

They finished at 17-under 267, and then looked as though they would never finish.

Bud Cauley, the 21-year-old who turned pro this summer, shot 66 and finished third to earn $340,000, which looks as if it will be enough for him to earn a card next year without having to go through the qualifying tournament.

It was the second straight week that a player won for the first time after a long drought. Kevin Na won in Las Vegas after 210 tries. Molder was regarded as a sure thing when he left Georgia Tech as a four-time All-American, but nothing comes easily on the PGA Tour. And as he found out in fading sunlight, noting comes easily in a playoff.

Beautiful lag

On the fourth extra hole, Molder drove into a hazard on the 18th. He hammered out a shot to the front of the green, and hit a beautiful lag from 80 feet to escape with par.

“It wasn’t an easy shot. It certainly wasn’t heroic,” Molder said. “I knew if I could get a decent club on it, it would go somewhere where I was looking.” Woods had three rounds in the 60s for the first time in more than a year on the PGA Tour, although he finished 10 shots behind in a tie for 30th. It a year lost mainly to left leg injuries, it was his ninth and final tour start.

Cauley left Alabama this year to turn pro, and it appeared to be a smart decision. He is projected to be the equivalent of 114th on the money list with two tournaments remaining. He at least gets into the McGladrey Classic next week. Cauley would be only the seventh player since 1980 - and the first since Ryan Moore in 2005 - to earn a full PGA Tour card without ever going to Q-school.

Shane Bertsch surged into the lead alone with an eagle at No. 15 to reach 15 under, only to miss a short putt on the next hole. He failed to make another birdie and tied for fourth with a 64. Ernie Els also tied for fourth. He went bunker-to-bunker on the 15th and had to settle for par and closed with a 68.

Ultimately, the duel came down to Baird and Molder, two players looking for their first PGA Tour win on a course that tests the nerves because of so many possible swings in momentum.

Molder birdied three of the first four holes on the back nine to take over the lead, and appeared to be playing safe by laying up on the 15th and making par. His 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th spun 270 degrees around the cup.

In the group behind him, Baird reached the 15th green for a two-putt birdie to get within one stroke, then put himself in position for the win with a drive that narrowly cleared the water on the 17th and stayed on the bank.

Trying to get up-and-down to tie for the lead, he chipped in for an eagle - the second straight day he made eagle on that hole - for a one-shot lead. Up ahead, however, Molder recovered by rolling in a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole to catch him.