Spain's Sergio Garcia birdied the third sudden-death hole to win the PGA Buick Classic in New York.

Garcia watched as Ireland's Padraig Harrington lipped out a birdie attempt that would have won the title at the first extra hole, the par-five 18th.

Harrington then dropped out with a bogey at the second added hole, reducing the play-off to a duel between Garcia and South Africa's Rory Sabbatini.

Playing the 18th hole for the third time on the day, Sabbatini missed a 21-foot birdie attempt, but Garcia sank his seven-footer for his fifth career PGA Tour triumph.

"Obviously, it's a disappointing end," said Harrington, who is still seeking his first win on the PGA Tour.

Garcia also won last month's Byron Nelson Championship in a play-off, ending a victory drought of more than two years.

"I've been fortunate enough to do pretty well in play-offs, not only here in the US but also around the world," Garcia said.

"I feel pretty comfortable in them. I don't know why but I've always felt calm and comfortable."

Garcia pocketed 945,000 US dollars (£520,000) to top the 10million dollar mark (£5.5million) in career earnings and, more importantly, he gained some momentum heading into the US Open, which begins on Thursday at Shinnecock Hills.

"It's great, but even if I would have not won here, I'd still be confident because I've been playing well," he added. "But it definitely helps. Every time you get a win, it's that much sweeter."

Sabbatini started the day a shot behind 48-year-old Loren Roberts for the lead.

He overcame bogeys at the second and sixth holes and a double-bogey at the 12th, capping a one-under 70 with a birdie at the par-five 18th.

"I just kind of decided I'm not going to throw the tournament away, I'm going to go out there and play and fight back," Sabbatini said.

"I started to just kind of try to get a couple shots in the right positions and do it that way and made some crucial putts coming down the stretch."

Roberts' quest for his first win in two years met a nightmarish end as he made six bogeys and a double-bogey over the first 13 holes.

He closed with a seven-over 78 and dropped into a seven-way tie for 16th at five under on 279.

Fred Couples, Tom Byrum and Fiji's Vijay Singh were two strokes off the leaders at 10 under on 274.

Collated fourth round scores and totals:

(x) - Wins Playoff

272 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 68 65 70, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 68 68 68, (x) Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 67 68 67

274 Tom Byrum 71 64 68 71, Fred Couples 67 65 74 68, Vijay Singh (Fij) 63 70 71 70

275 Luke Donald (Eng) 67 66 70 72

276 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 64 69 74 69

277 Tim Clark 68 72 68 69, Kenny Perry 69 71 71 66, Chris DiMarco 69 69 69 70, Bo Van Pelt 68 71 68 70, Cameron Beckman 68 68 66 75

278 Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 71 69 69, Scott Hend (Eng) 68 68 72 70

279 Phil Mickelson 69 68 69 73, Craig Parry (Aus) 73 66 69 71, Joe Ogilvie 72 66 70 71, Loren Roberts 67 70 64 78, Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 69 72 70, Brett Quigley 69 68 72 70, J J Henry 68 73 69 69

280 Dennis Paulson 70 68 68 74, Kris Cox 67 71 68 74, Brad Faxon 68 73 67 72, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 69 70 69 72, Zach Johnson 74 66 70 70

281 Scott Verplank 69 70 69 73, Tim Petrovic 69 69 71 72, Brian Gay 70 68 68 75, Davis Love III 68 71 70 72

282 Ted Purdy 69 70 69 74, Jerry Kelly 71 69 72 70, Neal Lancaster 70 71 70 71, Kevin Sutherland 68 70 73 71, Bart Bryant 72 68 72 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 71 70 72 69, Joey Sindelar 68 72 70 72, Steve Lowery 69 70 72 71, Dan Forsman 70 71 69 72, Dudley Hart 67 71 73 71

283 Pat Bates 72 69 67 75, Glen Day 71 70 73 69, Skip Kendall 68 71 68 76, DJ Brigman 71 69 71 72, Peter Lonard (Aus) 67 74 72 70, Rocco Mediate 71 67 71 74, Pat Perez 73 66 70 74, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 70 72 70, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 69 70 71 73, David Morland IV (Can) 69 70 70 74, John Senden (Aus) 70 68 71 74

284 Omar Uresti 70 71 74 69, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 73 67 73 71

285 David Frost (Rsa) 66 72 70 77, John Rollins 72 66 74 73, Bob Tway 71 69 71 74, Craig Bowden 71 69 72 73, Todd Fischer 69 71 70 75

286 Tjaart Van der Walt (Rsa) 71 65 75 75, Jose Coceres (Arg) 69 68 70 79, Carlos Franco (Par) 68 69 74 75, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 67 76 70, Robert Damron 67 70 73 76, Danny Ellis 75 66 75 70

287 Esteban Toledo (Mex) 71 69 72 75, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 69 72 73 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 71 75 72

288 Jonathan Byrd 67 70 71 80, Alex Cejka (Den) 70 69 73 76

289 Chris Smith 71 70 70 78, Notah Begay III 69 72 73 75, Billy Andrade 70 70 75 74, Jason Bohn 72 68 76 73

290 Billy Mayfair 68 68 76 78

291 Tom Carter 70 69 77 75, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 67 76 78, Joel Edwards 69 72 71 79, Brad Adamonis 69 72 73 77

292 Grant Waite (Nzl) 72 69 75 76, Jonathan Kaye 73 66 73 80

294 Patrick Sheehan 71 69 76 78