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IRVING, Texas - Sergio Garcia retooled his swing so it would hold up under the pressure of the final round. On Sunday, he only had to let the other guys fall apart at the Byron Nelson Championship.
Garcia made enough clutch pars to get into a playoff, then won for the first time in two years on the PGA Tour by tapping in for par on the first extra hole as Dudley Hart and Robert Damron self-destructed.
"Winning is always great," Garcia said. "Those are the little things that get you going a little bit."
Garcia closed with 1-over 71, the first Byron Nelson winner in 11 years to fail to break par in the final round. He never would have guessed he could shoot that score and still win, or that a simple par would be enough in the playoff.
"I pulled it through, and I'm happy," Garcia said.
Hart, who birdied three of the last five holes to close with 67 and get into the playoff, missed the fairway on the 18th and hit into a terrible lie right of the green. He duffed a chip and wound up with double bogey.
"I got a little overaggressive," Hart said. "Fifty yards short of the green would have been better than I was."
Damron holed a 7-iron from the 15th fairway for eagle and shot 66 to get into the playoff, just like he did three years ago when he won the Nelson on the fourth extra hole. Damron lagged his 50-foot putt to 4 feet, stepped up to it quickly and pulled it left.
Damron had a similar putt on the 18th in regulation, so he knew the line. "There was no point in reading it," he said. "I knew what it was doing. I just butchered it."
All three finished at 10-under 270.
Tiger Woods tried to make a late charge despite hitting only three fairways. He shot 69 to finish one shot out of the playoff for the second straight week.
"It's a little bit disappointing because obviously I didn't play well, and I had a chance, even as poorly as I played," he said."
Duffy Waldorf (68) hit into the water on No. 17 to make bogey and also finished one shot back. Also at 9-under 271 was Tim Herron, who shot 64. Herron did not make a birdie on the par 5s all week.
Garcia, 24, who made his PGA Tour debut as a professional at the Byron Nelson five years ago, won for the fourth time on tour and earned $1.04-million. He also gained 66 world ranking points, moving him to No. 2 in the European standings for the Ryder Cup.
Garcia was considered a rising star when he tied for third at the '99 Nelson as a 19-year-old, then challenged Woods at the PGA that summer and starred for Europe in the Ryder Cup.
But big victories have come slowly, and Garcia surprised some by changing his swing to reduce the lag.
LPGA: After an almost sleepless night waiting for news about her brother's ascent of Mount Everest, Lorena Ochoa reached the pinnacle of her short career.
Ochoa won her first tour event, carding 4-under-par 68 for a one-stroke victory over Wendy Ward at the inaugural Franklin American Mortgage Championship in Franklin, Tenn.
"Climbing Mount Everest has been his dream for many years," Ochoa said of her 27-year-old brother Alejandro, before pausing to collect herself. "Before he left, we make a promise that I will win my first tournament, and he will get to the summit."
Ochoa, the first Mexican to win a tour event, heard from her parents just before midnight and was told that her brother was due to reach the summit within a couple of hours. She tried to turn off her cell phone and sleep but couldn't until hearing around 4:30 a.m. that he had reached the summit and returned safely to camp.
She talked with her parents, sent e-mails to her brother, ate breakfast and took a short nap.
After that, winning the tournament was easy. She had five birdies and a bogey in the final round and held off three-time winners Ward and Pat Hurst, finishing at 16-under 272.
The 2003 rookie of the year had come close to winning, with three seconds and three thirds in her short career. Ochoa had 13 top 10 finishes coming into this event and was coming off a tie for second last week after letting a share of the third-round lead slip away.
Ochoa nearly faltered again Sunday on the final hole after Ward, in the group ahead, eagled the par-5 18th.
Instead of laying up on her second shot, Ochoa went for the green, hit into the bank in front, and the ball stopped short of the water. She chipped within 15 feet and two-putted to win. "Everything happened so fast. I look and (thought), "Please,' " Ochoa said.
EUROPEAN PGA: Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain won the Asian Open in Shanghai, China, closing with 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory. The win moves Jimenez into the top 50 in the rankings and virtually assures him a spot on the European Ryder Cup team.