Mark Wilson outlasted a trio of players in a three-hole play-off on Monday to win the Honda Classic.
It was the first career PGA Tour victory for Wilson, a former veteran of the Nationwide Tour who struggled down the stretch in the final round.
Darkness set in on Sunday night after the first play-off hole, forcing Wilson, Jose Coceres, Camilo Villegas and Boo Weekley to return to PGA National Resort & Spa early on Monday morning to play the par-four 10th hole.
The quartet of players finished regulation play tied at five-under-par 275.
The lay-off clearly worked wonders for Wilson, who sank a birdie putt from 10 and a half feet on the par-three 17th hole to earn a two-year exemption from the tour's qualifying school.
"It feels good," said Wilson, who won $990,000 (£514,000).
"I'm just thrilled. I hit the right putt, and it went in on the edge."
The 32-year-old, who has gone to the Q-school in each of the last 10 years, was also happy to earn the time off.
"Now I can play my November and December," he said.
Villegas and Weekley were both eliminated from the play-off after bogeying on the 10th, setting up the fantastic finish between Wilson and Coceres.
Coceres, who also lost in a play-off to Fred Funk last week at the Mayakoba Classic, missed his chance to tie Wilson on the 17th, missing a nine-foot birdie putt.
All four players began the play-off on Sunday by parring the par-five 18th, the first of the extra format.
Had Weekley not missed a three-foot putt on the same hole in regulation, he would have secured his first career win.
A member of the Nationwide Tour for the last four years, Weekley began the Sunday one shot behind Wilson.
He followed all four of his birdies with eventual bogeys, including one at the last hole for a round of par 70.
Collated final scores & totals (USA unless stated, par 70):
275 Mark Wilson 72 66 66 71(Won at 3rd play-off hole.) Jose Coceres (Arg) 69 71 69 66, Boo Weekley 71 68 66 70, Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 68 71 66
276 Steve Stricker 68 69 70 69, Robert Allenby (Aus) 67 68 73 68, Tripp Isenhour 71 70 68 67
277 Daniel Chopra (Swe) 70 68 68 71, Brett Wetterich 68 71 71 67
279 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 66 75 70 68, Arron Oberholser 68 73 69 69, J.P. Hayes 71 73 67 68
280 Charlie Wi (Kor) 65 70 72 73, Jason Dufner 71 70 68 71, Bill Haas 76 67 69 68, Davis Love III 68 74 70 68, Douglas Labelle 72 70 72 66, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 68 71 70 71, Frank Lickliter II 73 69 68 70
281 Stephen Marino 70 71 68 72, David Toms 72 68 70 71
282 Anders Hansen (Den) 68 72 73 69, Billy Mayfair 73 71 69 69, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 72 66 75 69, Will MacKenzie 68 69 74 71, J J Henry 70 73 68 71, Rich Beem 73 67 73 69, Glen Day 69 70 71 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 73 71 69 69, Rich Barcelo 73 68 74 67
283 Charles Warren 68 73 71 71, Tim Herron 75 67 71 70, John Merrick 74 69 70 70, Joe Ogilvie 67 71 73 72, Chris DiMarco 69 74 72 68, Jim Furyk 69 71 73 70, Bob Heintz 73 70 70 70, Jason Bohn 72 72 69 70
284 Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 70 70 75 69, Marco Dawson 67 74 74 69, John Senden (Aus) 74 69 71 70, Matt Kuchar 72 68 76 68, Brandt Snedeker 68 72 72 72, Steve Allan (Aus) 75 69 70 70, Rocco Mediate 71 72 74 67
285 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 73 73 71, Anthony Kim 70 73 67 75, Jeff Gove 72 69 70 74, Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 73 72 70, Wes Short jr. 70 74 71 70, Luke Donald (Eng) 77 67 72 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 69 71 75
286 Kevin Stadler 71 71 72 72, Ryan Armour 71 73 69 73, Woody Austin 72 68 76 70, Ben Curtis 71 73 70 72, Gavin Coles (Aus) 70 72 78 66, Tom Pernice Jnr. 71 73 69 73, Cliff Kresge 67 74 74 71
287 Mathew Goggin (Aus) 70 72 77 68, Chris Couch 72 70 75 70
288 George McNeill 70 73 75 70, Jeff Quinney 70 74 70 74, Lucas Glover 70 72 72 74, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 69 74 74
289 Billy Andrade 74 68 75 72
290 Dicky Pride 71 71 73 75
291 Richard S Johnson (Swe) 73 70 78 70, Johnson Wagner 70 74 67 80
293 Alan Morin 71 73 75 74
296 Kyle Reifers 71 71 81 73
297 Michael Putnam 70 74 81 72
298 Robert Garrigus 73 70 71 84
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