Rookie wins PGA event in playoff

Six days after Ernst received a call that he was in the Wells Fargo Championship as the fourth alternate, the 22-year-old rookie found himself one shot out of the lead and 192 yards away from the flag on the 18th hole, the toughest at Quail Hollow in the cold, wind and rain of a grueling final round.

Ernst choked up on a 6-iron and hit a draw that landed 4 feet from the hole for one of only four birdies on the closing hole Sunday.

Returning to the 18th in the playoff, as the rain started coming out harder, Ernst hit a 3-iron to about 15 feet left of the flag that set up his stunning victory.

He had a one-shot lead with three holes to play until making back-to-back bogeys, missing putts of 6 feet and 10 feet.

Lynn played the final three holes, known as the “Green Mile,” in a combined 4-under par for the week without a single bogey.

“I’ve not been particularly driving it well, so took that tee shot down in the playoff and obviously found a bit of a crooked spot and then didn’t play a great bunker shot either,” Lynn said.

At Williamsburg, Va., Cristie Kerr made a short par putt on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff with Suzann Pettersen to win the Kingsmill Championship for the third time.

On the second hole, Pettersen hit her approach just off the back of the green, and Kerr’s stopped nearly hole high about 15 feet away.

Pettersen, the 2007 winner in a playoff with Jee Young Lee, won in a playoff two weeks ago in Hawaii.

At The Woodlands, Texas, Esteban Toledo celebrated Cinco de Mayo by becoming the first Mexican winner in Champions Tour history, beating Mike Goodes with a par on the third hole of a playoff in the Insperity Championship.