Golf Roundup : Mudd Defeats Nelson in Byron Nelson Playoff

Jodie Mudd doesn’t have the credentials of Larry Nelson, but it mattered little when the golfers met in a sudden death playoff Sunday in the Byron Nelson tournament at Dallas.

“You still have to play the shots, play the golf course,” Mudd said after beating Nelson on the first extra hole. “I figured I had a little bit of an advantage, because of my length.”

When Mudd and Nelson went to the first extra hole, the par-five 16th, with $180,000 at stake, Nelson, 41, held a 3-1 playoff record, had won a U.S. Open and carried a reputation as one of golf’s fiercest competitors.

Mudd had an 0-2 playoff record and had one victory in an eight-year career.

He promptly scored a birdie-four with a 12-foot putt to win.

The playoff, the fourth in five years in the tournament, was set up when Mudd and Nelson completed regulation play at 265, 15-strokes under par.

Mudd of Louisville, Ky., made up three shots over the last seven holes of regulation play and gained the playoff with a five-under-par 65. Nelson shot a 67 for the final round.

Mudd drove the fairway. Nelson, drove into light rough.

Mudd hit a second shot just short of the green. Nelson laid up and had 115 yards left. His third was to the right and gave him a 30-foot putt.

Mudd chipped to 12 within feet, below the cup.

After Nelson missed his long putt, Mudd made his.

Mark O’Meara, a winner at Pebble Beach earlier this year, missed the playoff by one stroke at 266. He had a closing 66.

Loren Roberts was next at 68--267.

Larry Mize and Wayne Levi, who shared the lead at the start of the day’s play, “both had to struggle a bit,” Mize said.

Each had a 71, and tied for fifth at 268 with Chris Perry, who shot 68.

Defending champion Juli Inkster overcame foul weather with a three-under-par 69 that pushed her past her faltering opponents for a five-stroke victory in the LPGA’s Crestar tournament at Chesapeake, Va.

Inkster built a three-shot advantage at the turn and never led by fewer than two strokes the rest of the way on a rainy day that saw temperatures dip into the upper 40s.

She completed three trips around Greenbrier Country Club’s 6,275-yard layout in 210, six-under par.

The victory, worth $45,000 from the $300,000 purse, was Inkster’s second of the season and the 13th of her career.

Beth Daniel and Sweden’s Liselotte Neumann were closest to Inkster at 215.

Larry Mowry birdied the final hole for a one-shot victory over Gay Brewer in a $250,000 seniors PGA tournament at San Antonio, Tex.

Mowry’s three-day total of 201 was 15 under par and set a tournament record. He had rounds of 66, 67 and four-under 68. Brewer finished with a 202.

Miller Barber was third, three shots back at 204.