With five holes to play in the final round of the recent McGladrey Classic at Sea Island Golf Club, Robert Streb was four shots off the lead and needed a birdie or two for a top 10 finish.
Streb, in his third season on the PGA Tour, had just two top 10s the previous two seasons and had only contended for victory once, earlier in 2014 in New Orleans, where he tied for second.
A three-putt bogey at 13 seemingly dashed Streb’s hopes at victory after a torrid front nine that included five birdies in a seven-hole stretch had vaulted him into contention.
Streb had one more hot streak left, carding consecutive birdies at holes 14, 15, 16 and 17.
With the lead trio all stalled or falling back, Streb found himself in a three-way playoff, which he ended on the par-3 17th, the second extra hole. Streb hit his tee shot within four feet and holed the putt for birdie, making the swift leap from anonymous to PGA Tour winner and 2015 Masters qualifier.
Streb defeated Brendon de Jonge, perhaps the most successful non-winner on the PGA Tour, and Will MacKenzie, known more for his non-golf pursuits than his exploits on the course, in the playoff.
The three finished at 14-under 266, with MacKenzie playing his last 10 holes in even par and de Jonge closing out his round with six straight pars after holing a 40-footer for birdie on 12 and a share of the lead.
Andrew Svoboda was tied for the third round lead with Mackenzie and still tied at the top early on the back nine. Three bogeys in a four-hole stretch dropped him out of the lead and into a tie for 8th, with no player other than Streb taking advantage of the inability of the leaders to get past the 14-under par barrier.
Streb shot himself into contention with a sensational stretch of golf on the front nine after a bogey on the first hole. Three of his five birdies on the opening nine came after approach shots within five feet of the cup, with his longest birdie putt among the five just 10 feet.
Another superb approach shot at the difficult 14th began Streb’s birdie run on the back nine. After he two-putted the par-5 15th, Streb rolled in putts of 19 and 33 feet on 16 and 17 to conclude a 9-birdie 63 on the par-70 Seaside layout.
“I was just trying to make as many birdies as I could,” Streb said after his victory. “I’ve never really come back from that far behind. I know it could be done, but it didn’t really cross my mind there until the end.”
De Jonge, who birdied the first three holes in the final round but just two of the last 15, missed from inside 10 feet for birdie at the 15th, while Mackenzie needed a birdie at 17 to get into the playoff after three-putting from long range on 16.
MacKenzie exited the playoff when he bogeyed the 18th, and Streb needed only one more hole to win, carding his 10th birdie of the day while de Jonge settled for his eighth straight par.
Streb’s victory came as something of a surprise, much as the come-from behind wins by Ben Crane in 2011 and Tommy Gainey in 2012.
Crane birdied eight of his last 11 holes for a 63 and defeated Webb Simpson in a playoff after trailing by as many as eight shots in the final round. Gainey was seven off the lead entering the fourth round the next year, but closed with a course record 60 to overtake Jim Furyk and tournament host Davis Love.
Other than Streb’s sizzling finish, there wasn’t much in the way of fireworks in the late stages of the tournament.
Both Russell Henley and Chris Kirk, part of the well-publicized contingent of former U. of Georgia golfers who have enjoyed so much success on the PGA Tour the past few years, were poised to add to their growing list of victories, but neither could muster a late surge.
Henley, who held the 36-hole lead after a second round 63, made two early birdies on Sunday, but they were sandwiched in between a pair of bogeys. He parred 12 of his last 13 holes, with a birdie at the 15th breaking up his par string. Henley had his chances, but his frequently deadly putter was not as lethal as usual.
Kirk, the defending champion and a former St. Simons Island resident, rolled in birdie putts of 15 and 20 feet on holes 2 and 3, but a bogey at the fifth halted his early momentum. He made his share of putts on the day, but too many of them were par saves. A 30-footer for birdie on the 15th gave him a flicker of hope, but he dumped his second shot on the 16th into a bunker and had to scramble for par. He just missed his birdie try at 17 to close the door on a possible repeat victory.
Both tied for 4th at 12-under 268, along Kevin Kisner, Kirk’s teammate on Georgia’s 2005 NCAA Championship team. Kisner birdied 16 and 17 for a final round 65 and the best finish in his fourth season on the PGA Tour. Kirk closed with a 67 and Henley shot 69 the final day.
Streb did not get off to the best start in the tournament, hitting his first tee shot into a bush and taking an unplayable lie penalty on his way to a double bogey 6. Three birdies on his last four holes gave him a 69, four shots behind four players, including MacKenzie and former UGA golfers Erik Compton and Brian Harman, a St. Simons resident.
A fast start Friday produced a 66 for Streb, who trailed Henley by four at the midway point. Harman, Svoboda and de Jonge were all one back, with a whopping 88 players making the cut. Among those who didn’t were locals Harris English, Jonathan Byrd and Zach Johnson along with Heath Slocum, who won the inaugural McGladrey Classic in 2010.
An eagle on the 15th hole Saturday gave Streb a third round 68 and he began the final round at 7-under 203, five off the lead of MacKenzie and Svoboda.
Streb had done little in his brief PGA Tour history to indicate he was a likely contender for the title. He enjoyed an excellent rookie season on the Web.com Tour in 2012, placing 7th on the money list with a victory to move up to the PGA Tour in 2013. He finished 126th on the FedExCup points list in 2013-14 to just miss retaining his exempt status, but a tie for 2nd in New Orleans locked up his tour card for 2014-15. He closed the 2013-14 season on a high note, recording a top-10 finish in the Playoffs event in Boston.
“That second (in New Orleans) was pretty big for me,” Streb said. “I’m just trying to improve, trying to get better, and it obviously pad off pretty big today.”
The 27-year-old Streb is an Oklahoma native and played his college golf at Kansas State. After finishing 71st in the FedExCup standings in 2013-14 (he was bumped out of the last of the Playoffs event prior to the Tour Championship by Jason Day’s birdie putt on the 72nd hole in Boston), he was 1st after his win at Sea Island, with a tie for 10th the previous week in Las Vegas.