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Garcia: Play-off victory

Final round leaders
US unless stated
-5 S Garcia (Spn)*
-5 P Goydos
-4 J Quinney
-1 B Baird

* Garcia won at first extra hole

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• Players Championship scores
• World Rankings
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Sergio Garcia left his putting woes behind him to win the Players Championship at Sawgrass.

The Spaniard has gone through a tough time with the putter in recent years, but he was at his brilliant best as he put together a final round of 71 in testing, blustery conditions.

That was enough to earn him a play-off against Paul Goydos, who had led all the way until a bogey at the last left him tied with Garcia at five under for the tournament.

Goydos played first at the first extra hole, the notorious par-three 17th, and the American journeyman found the water short of the island green to thrust his opponent into pole position.

Perfect tee-shot

Garcia took full advantage of his opportunity, landing his tee-shot on the ridge across the green before seeing the ball trickle down to within five feet of the hole.

That left him with three putts for the title, but he needed only two to become only the second European after Sandy Lyle in 1987 to win the unofficial 'fifth major' and the first since Lyle to win via a play-off.

Such has been the extent of Garcia's troubles that he has gone three years without a victory on either side of the Atlantic.

However, he put the record straight with a string of fine putts, the highlight of which was a 40-foot birdie putt across the width of the 14th green.

That was for a third birdie in four holes and it cut Goydos' lead to two shots, which became one 10 minutes later when the American missed a par putt on the same hole.

Goydos fell back into a share of the lead when he pushed a five-foot par putt at the 15th, but he regained his advantage with a birdie at 16.

Trouble

Garcia found himself in trouble on the long par-four closing hole and was only able to lay up short of the green from the thick rough to the right of the fairway.

However, he was able to get up and down, holing another difficult putt, and that was to prove decisive as Goydos followed his path from the tee.

Goydos began the day with a one-shot lead over playing partner Kenny Perry, whose challenge quickly began to falter in the strong winds.

Three bogeys in the first five holes tested the 43-year-old Goydos' character as he looked for the biggest - and only the third - win of his long career.

He reached the turn in a share of the lead with Perry, but birdies at the 10th and 12th holes put him back in the clear as Perry bogeyed 10 and 11 on his way to a disastrous closing round of 81.

Dropped shots at 14 and 15 closed the gap once more and brought Jeff Quinney into contention after he picked up shots at 11, 13 and 16.

Quinney, playing alongside Garcia, saw his hopes dashed when he overshot the green at the 18th and was unable to get up and down from the trap.

That left Garcia and Goydos to contest the play-off, and it was the Ryder Cup star from Spain who held his nerve.

Veteran Bernhard Langer closed with a disappointing round of 77, while Phil Mickelson's anticipated challenge never got out of first gear after a double-bogey at the opening hole.