Sunday 23 July 2017 23:36, UK
Grayson Murray held his nerve over the closing holes in Alabama to secure the first PGA Tour title of his career by winning the Barbasol Championship by a single stroke.
The 23-year-old American closed with a three-under-par 68, to fend off compatriot Chad Collins at RTJ Trail.
Going into this week's event, Murray was a lowly 124th in the FedEx Cup standings but, his victory on Sunday, extends his Tour Card exemption for another two years.
Before arriving in the Deep South, the rookie's previous highest finish had been a tie-for-eighth at the Sanderson Farms Championship last October.
Teeing-up on Sunday in second spot, the North Carolina-born pro opened with a bogey-five but recovered immediately to make birdie on the second hole.
The key moment of his round came at 13 where he made an eagle three after hitting his second shot to within four feet of the pin, and added a fourth birdie of the day on 16. Over four days, he covered the 12 par-five holes in nine-under-par.
Scott Stallings and Tag Ridings also held the lead on the back nine but fell away over the closing holes.
Stallings, who posted a 60 in round three, three-putted the 13th green and then bogeyed the final hole after hitting a poor drive.
Ridings, meanwhile, blew his chances by making a double-bogey seven at the 16th.
Murray said: "I was in control. I didn't get out of my game plan once. I was going to let them make the mistakes instead of myself.
"I was going to make them have to birdie the last hole, or the last few holes. I was playing for par on 17 and 18.
"I knew if I parred those, they'd have to do something special to beat me."
In the end, Collins moved into second spot by birdieing four of the last five holes - including each of the last three.
It was his best-ever finish on Tour, helped by his 11-under-par 60 on Friday, which gave him a four-stroke lead at the half-way stage.
And runner-up Collins, whose highest previous result was third at the 2016 Texas Open, added: "It's my best ever out here on tour, and I had the best round I've ever had on Tour.
"You gain tons of confidence from this going forward. You can only draw positives from it. "
The top 11 spots were taken by Americans, including amateur Sam Burns who tied-sixth.
Top 10:
-21: Grayson Murray (68)
-20: Chad Collins (68)
-19: Brian Gay (65)
-19: Tag Ridings (69)
-19: Scott Stallings (71)
-18: Ryan Blaum (64)
-18: Sam Burns (66)
-18: Cameron Tringale (68)
-18: Ben Martin (66)
-17: Robert Garrigus (67)
