DiMarco downs Duval in playoff

PINE MOUNTAIN, Ga. -- Chris DiMarco made a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to tie David Duval, then won the Buick Challenge on the first playoff hole when Duval missed an 8-footer for par.

Duval, the defending tournament champion, closed with a brilliant 9-under-par 63 on the Mountain View course at Callaway Gardens, walking off with a one-stroke lead.

He then went to a television booth overlooking 18, where he watched DiMarco make the clutch putt with his unique claw grip to give both players a 21-under 267.

"I was expecting to be in a playoff," Duval said. "I didn't want to be in a playoff, but I was expecting it."

He had to work hard just to get that far, beginning the day six strokes behind third-round leader Joel Edwards. After putting up the best score of the day in regulation, Duval finally cracked in the playoff.

His second shot, a 9-iron from 132 yards, sailed through the green and stopped on the lip of a bunker. A foot either way and Duval would have faced a rather routine up-and-down to save par.

Instead, he was forced to stand in the sand, the ball about a foot higher than his feet. He punched it out, about 8 feet below the cup.

"Unfortunately, where the ball went left me with a difficult, difficult shot," Duval said. "I almost laughed about it."

In the playoff, DiMarco had a nearly identical birdie putt to the one he made on the 72nd hole, only this time he missed. It didn't matter when Duval's putt slid by the left edge of the cup.

DiMarco, whose brother Mitch served as his caddie, earned $612,000 for his second career victory. He won the SEI Pennsylvania Classic last year against a much weaker field.

"Look at the field," DiMarco said, mentioning Duval, Vijay Singh and Davis Love III. "When I won last year, I beat some good players but not the big names. To do it against the big names is very special."

Bob Estes, continuing his strong play in the second half, tied for third with Neal Lancaster at 269.

Senior Tour Championship

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Bob Gilder withstood howling winds and a charge by Doug Tewell to win the Senior Tour Championship.

Gilder's second victory of the season was worth $440,000, a record on the Senior PGA Tour. His 1-over 73 left him at 11-under 277 for the tournament.

Tewell shot a 69 to post his 10-under. Bruce Lietzkeshot a 4-over 76 and finished third at 279.

World Ladies Match Play

NARITA, Japan -- Annika Sorenstam won a showdown with Se Ri Pak, overcoming a four-hole deficit for a 1-up victory in the World Ladies Match Play Championship.

Sorenstam earned $144,000 for her career-high seventh victory of the year to push her season total to $1,828,868, just $49,985 behind the LPGA Tour record set last year by Karrie Webb.

Pak, second on the tour with five victories and $1,623,009, won four of the first six holes to take a 4-up lead, but Sorenstam won four straight holes to tie it on the 11th. She took the lead for good on No. 15.

Buy.com Championship

PRATTVILLE, Ala. -- Pat Bates shot a 3-under-par 69 to win the Buy.com Tour Championship by three strokes and earn a battlefield promotion to the PGA Tour.

With his third victory of the season, Bates joined Chad Campbell and Heath Slocum in making the immediate jump to the big tour.

-- From wire reports