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JJ Henry beats Kyle Reifers in Barracuda Championship play-off

Monday 10 August 2015 09:44, UK

JJ Henry celebrates holing his winning putt at the Barracuda Championship
Image: JJ Henry celebrates holing his winning putt at the Barracuda Championship

JJ Henry drained an eagle putt on the second play-off hole to beat Kyle Reifers and win the Barracuda Championship in Reno, Nevada.

The 40-year-old was winning the event for the second time, having also taken it in 2012, and victory ensured him a place in this week's US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.

Henry went into the final round in the lead, but he needed a birdie at the last to tie with Reifers on 47 points in the modified stableford event at Montreux Golf and Country Club.

He struggled badly on the front nine, with three bogeys in the first four holes, but his back-nine was much improved, as it needed to be in the wake of a scoring blitz from Reifers.

Kyle Reifers: Finished tied-11th in his past two tournaments.
Image: Kyle Reifers had three eagles on his back-nine but had to settle for second place

Reifers started the day back in 20th place and scored five points on the front nine with three birdies and a dropped shot at the sixth.

He picked up two further points with a birdie at the 11th but then managed to make three eagles, worth 15 points, at the 13th, 14th and the closing hole to reach 47 points.

They both birdied the 18th to start the play-off, and set up eagle chances second time around with fine approaches into the defenceless par-five.

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Henry holed from just off the green, albeit only 18 feet from the pin, leaving Reifers a 12-footer to extend the play-off, but he was unable to find another eagle putt and had to settle for a career-best second placed finish.

JJ Henry with the Barracuda Championship trophy
Image: Henry's 47 point total was just enough to get him into a play-off where an eagle earned him a second Barracuda trophy

"It's been a struggle this year but I dug deep today," Henry told the Golf Channel.

"I'm just real proud of the way I hung in there after a tough start and a tough windy day. Just gutted it out. It's a great feeling."

Live USPGA Championship Golf

Third place went to young American player Patrick Rodgers, who missed out on the play-off by one point, while David Toms had a poor final round, picking up only two points to drop to fifth behind Andres Gonzales.

Modified stableford scoring: Albatross +8 points, eagle +5, birdie +2, par 0, bogey -1, double bogey or worse -2.

Watch the US PGA Championship live on Sky Sports 4 HD all week - coverage of the first round starts on Thursday at 7pm.

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