Thorpe beats out his buddy

SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN, Ariz. -- Jim Thorpe has a new favorite golf hole -- the 18th at the Countrywide Tradition.

Thorpe rolled in a 5-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole there Sunday to win the season's first major on the Senior PGA Tour over cigar-smoking buddy John Jacobs, who missed a 3-footer that would have forced another hole of play.

"It was a wonderful finish," Thorpe said. "If this doesn't help the golf ratings, I don't know what will."

Thorpe, 53, won his first major, senior or otherwise, and he can thank the par-5, 553-yard 18th hole on the Prospector course at Superstition Mountain Golf & Country Club. In the last two days, he had an eagle and two birdies there.

Thorpe chipped in from the bunker there for an eagle to pull within a shot of Jacobs for the third-round lead Saturday, then forced the playoff with a birdie on the 18th Sunday after an approach shot that landed 18 inches from the pin.

"That hole was very kind to me," Thorpe said. "They should put my name someplace out there."

The two outgoing players, who often chat with people in the crowd and joke with each other, finished at 11-under-par 277. Thorpe closed with a 70, and Jacobs had a 71.

"We both have plenty of money, but we had fun out there," Jacobs said. "That's what this tour should be about."

Bruce Summerhays shot a 68, but missed a 5-foot birdie putt that would have tied him for the lead on the 18th. He tied for third with Bob Gilder at 10-under 278.

Tom Watson, switching to a cross-handed putting grip a third of the way through his round, shot a 68 to finish at 8-under 280, one shot ahead of Hale Irwin.

Greater Greensboro

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Rocco Mediate shot a 1-under 71 for a three-stroke victory over Mark Calcavecchia in the Greater Greensboro Chrysler Classic.

Mediate had a 16-under 272 total for his fifth victory on the PGA Tour. He earned $684,000.

Calcavecchia shot a final-round 72.

Spanish Open

LAS PALMAS, Canary Islands -- Sergio Garcia won the Spanish Open for his first victory on native soil, closing with a 1-over 73 for a four-stroke victory over Italy's Emanuele Canonica.

Garcia had a 13-under 275 total.

-- From wire reports