Eight strokes back, Driscoll shoots 62 but falls in playoff
SAN ANTONIO - James Driscoll didn't see where Zach Johnson's approach landed on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff Sunday.
He didn't have to. Thanks to the gallery, he heard it.
"I figured it was about 10 feet," Driscoll said.
The crowd got even louder when Johnson sank the birdie putt to successfully defend his Texas Open title and end Driscoll's unlikely final-round surge from 8 strokes back at La Cantera Golf Club.
Johnson's win capped a wild shootout in which seven players stood within a stroke with four holes left. The 2007 Masters champion followed his third-round 60 with a 70 to match Driscoll at 15-under 265, then hit the 6-iron approach in the playoff set up his sixth career PGA Tour victory.
"I feel very lucky," said Johnson, who earned $1,098,000.
Johnson vaulted to the top of the FedEx Cup standings, passing Geoff Ogilvy and Phil Mickelson - the only other two-time winners on the PGA Tour this season. Johnson also won the Sony Open in January.
Paul Goydos had a 1-stroke lead with two holes to play, but closed with 2 bogeys for a 69, leaving him a stroke back along with Bill Haas (65), who birdied five of six holes on Nos. 11 through 16 but missed a 6-foot putt on the par-3 17th.
Australia's Marc Leishman (68), Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson (67) and three-time champion Justin Leonard (69) finished at 13 under.
Driscoll was an afterthought at 7 under when the final round began, 8 strokes behind Johnson and his group that included Goydos and Leonard. After wrapping up his 62, Driscoll had to wait more than an hour for Johnson to finish his round.
It was worth the wait, but it didn't last long.
"You want to put the pressure on your opponent. There's no doubt about it," Johnson said. "It's not like he hit a bad shot. He hit 20-plus feet. He hit a good putt. So it just kind of went my way."
Driscoll was in position for the biggest comeback in the history of the Texas Open, which dates to 1922 and is the third-oldest event on the PGA Tour. Instead, Driscoll settled for only his third top-10 finish and finish since a runner-up effort in the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans.