Inside the wildest two weeks in the history of professional golf

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It was a record-tying showdown between Harris English and Kramer Hickok at the Travelers Championship on Sunday. Their eight-hole playoff tied the PGA TOUR record for the longest sudden-death playoff ever completed on the TOUR. After they tied with pars on the first seven playoff holes, English ended it with a 5-foot birdie putt to earn his second win of the season. In light of that record, let’s take a look at the longest playoffs in PGA TOUR history. Only the 11-hole playoff in the 1949 Motor City Open, which ended with co-champions after it was too dark to continue, was longer than Sunday’s affair. 1949 Motor City Open (11 holes): Lloyd Mangrum and Cary Middlecoff declared co-winners by mutual agreement due to darkness The previous year’s Motor City Open went to a playoff between Ben Hogan and Dutch Harrison. No one was eager to repeat another 18-hole affair the following year. Thus, the tournament used a “sudden-death” format in 1949. That playoff lasted almost as long as the one between Harrison and Hogan. Mangrum and Middlecoff, who won the U.S. Open a week earlier, tied 11 holes before they were declared co-champions due to darkness. The two were all but inseparable on the final day. They started the day tied at 9-under 204 and both shot 69 in the final round. Mangrum had a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have given him the title. He missed, and so the playoff began after the players were given the opportunity to take a “brief rest,” according to a newspaper report. Mangrum had another great opportunity to win on the 11th extra hole. Middlecoff’s approach sailed 40 feet right of the flag and into the rough. Mangrum’s approach settled 9 feet from the flag. Middlecoff chipped within inches before Mangrum missed his birdie opportunity. “This playoff takes the cake,” Mangrum said. 2012 Mayakoba Golf Classic (8 holes): John Huh defeated Robert Allenby. It took eight straight pars for Huh to win his first PGA TOUR title. Huh was just 21 years old and making his fifth PGA TOUR start. He made 3 at the par-3 10th hole, tapping in from 2 feet after Allenby hit into a hazard and missed a 15-foot par putt. It was the fourth time the pair had played the 10th hole in the playoff. Allenby had a two-shot lead on the final hole but made double-bogey to fall into a playoff. 1983 Phoenix Open (8 holes): Bob Gilder defeated Rex Caldwell, Johnny Miller and Mark O’Meara Caldwell was runner-up in three consecutive tournaments in early 1983. That included a loss in an eight-hole playoff at the Phoenix Open. Gilder won with a birdie on the eighth extra hole. It was the second straight week where Caldwell lost in extra holes. “I’m happy I won one, but I’m glad it’s over,” Gilder said. “It was a battle all the way. It wasn’t any fun.” Caldwell, who was seeking his first TOUR title, earned his spot in the playoff with a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation. Mark O’Meara and Johnny Miller dropped out of the playoff on the second extra hole after Gilder and Caldwell made birdie. The national television broadcast went off the air after the fifth extra hole. Gilder ended it six holes later with a 7-foot birdie putt. It was Gilder’s lone playoff in his PGA TOUR career and the sixth, and final, win of his career. His first and last wins came in the Phoenix Open, in 1976 and 1983. Caldwell, who’d been on the TOUR nine years, left the green without speaking to Gilder and did not speak to the media, according to a newspaper report. He earned his lone PGA TOUR win later in 1983, beating Lee Trevino by a stroke in Abilene, Texas, in September. 1981 Quad Cities Open (8 holes): Dave Barr defeated Woody Blackburn, Frank Conner, Dan Halldorson and Victor Regalado After finishing his final round of the Quad Cities Open, Barr packed up his shoes, had a beer and a couple of soft drinks. He was two shots behind Regalado, who was 12 under par. “A playoff was in the back of my mind, but I really didn’t expect it,” Barr said. Regalado bogeyed 17 before missing a 3-foot par putt on the 72nd hole to open the door for a five-man playoff. Eight holes later, Barr won by holing a 3-footer of his own to win over Woody Blackburn. Regalado, Halldorson and Conner were all eliminated on the first extra hole. 1978 Greater Milwaukee Open (8 holes): Lee Elder defeated Lee Trevino Trevino forced the playoff with an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation. “I thought, ‘Not again,’” said Elder, who lost to Trevino in a playoff in Hartford, Connecticut, six years earlier. “He did pretty much the same thing in 1972 when he sank a 15- or 20-footer on the last hole.” The putter left Trevino in extra holes, however. He missed 5-foot birdie putts on the second and fourth playoff holes and a 9-footer on the seventh. On the eighth playoff hole, Trevino blasted out of the sand to within 6 feet. He missed the par putt and Elder two-putted from 12 feet for the win. “I’m sure Lee tried as hard as he could, but I believe that if he hadn’t been in a hurry to meet his wife in Chicago and catch a plane for England for the British Open, it could have been a different story,” Elder said. “I think the fact that Lee came here and played as hard as he did when he planned to go to England right after ward says something about what kind of man he is.” 1965 Azalea Open Invitational (8 holes): Dick Hart defeated Phil Rodgers. Hart entered the Azalea Open only two minutes before the deadline. It earned him his first PGA TOUR win, and in a record-setting playoff. Both Hart and Rodgers missed the green on the eighth playoff hole and Hart, 28, won by getting up-and-down. Hart forced the playoff with a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation. He also eagled the 15th after holing a 40-yard wedge shot.

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Nathaniel Crosby is returning to Royal Liverpool for the Walker Cup, this time as the U.S. captain.

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