England's Harry Hall secured his first US PGA Tour title on Sunday at the ISCO Championship in Nicholasville, Kentucky, by chipping in for birdie on the third hole of a five-man sudden-death playoff. Hall, along with Pierceson Coody and Matt NeSmith, missed the green at the par-three ninth hole. However, Hall executed a perfect chip that landed on the fringe and rolled straight into the cup.
"This is huge," Hall said, noting that the 300 FedEx Cup playoff points he earned might allow him to take a week off, with his wife Jordan expecting their first baby next week. "I think it was a bit dicey there, just my position in the FedEx Cup, and I probably needed to play every single week, so I'm glad that I might not have to now. Super happy."
Hall, NeSmith, and Coody extended the playoff by parring the second playoff hole, the par-four 18th, after Zac Blair and Rico Hoey were eliminated with bogeys at the same hole. All five players had completed the 72 holes at Keene Trace Golf Club with a score of 22-under 266. Hall initially took the lead at 23-under with his fourth birdie of the day on the 14th hole, the toughest on the course, but a bogey on the par-five 15th and a closing round of three-under 69 set up the playoff.
Coody, who had led after the first three rounds and posted a spectacular 61 on Thursday, holed out for eagle on the 11th hole but dropped a shot with a bogey on the 12th. He managed to sink a crucial 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to join the playoff with a final-round 70.
Meanwhile, NeSmith and Blair set the 22-under target early in the day with impressive eight-under-par 64s, and it took hours for the final groups to confirm no one would surpass them. Blair, who was halfway to Cincinnati, had to turn back for a 40-minute drive upon realizing he could be in a playoff.
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