Mudd Plays It Safe, Winds Up With Title : Golf: He wanted to par the 17th, but pushed his shot at the pin. Then, he birdied it to win the Players Championship.

When Jodie Mudd approached the par-three 17th hole Sunday at the Players Championship, he had reason to be nervous.

Earlier in the day, when he was completing the third round that was shortened because of rain Saturday, his tee shot bounced off the island green and into the water. He wound up with a double bogey.

At the 17th, he was protecting a one-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia, who had birdied the 15th and 16th holes.

Calcavecchia’s tee shot found the green and he got a par from 30 feet. Nervous or not, Mudd made a 10-foot putt for a birdie at 17, and then bogeyed the par-four 18th before Calcavecchia made par.

Mudd, a two-time Public Links champion, earned $270,000 and a 10-year exemption from qualifying for PGA tour-sponsored events. He had a final-round 69, three under par, and 278 for the tournament, 10 under.

Calcavecchia finished at 279, matching Mudd’s 69. It was his third consecutive second-place finish and his fourth this season.

“When I called home to my wife, Sheryl, in Minnesota, she said, ‘Hello, Mr. Second Place,’ ” Calcavecchia said.

Still, he earned $162,000 and is the leading money winner on the tour for the year, totaling $551,040 even though he hasn’t won a tournament.

The 17th hole at the Tournament Players Club in Sawgrass was pivotal. A par three surrounded by water, it claimed many victims in the four days of the tournament.

Phil Blackmar got a 10 there; Roger Maltbie had a nine and then withdrew. Earlier Sunday, Robert Gamez, a tour rookie, took an 11 and Tom Watson faded from contention with an eight. The pin was in a hazardous position Sunday. It was placed to the back and right side of the green, only about 15 feet from a bulkhead and the water below.

“After Jodie hit his shot, I went over to him and said, ‘Tell me you pushed it,’ ” Calcavecchia said. “He’s a great player, but he’s not that good.”

“I knew I was only one down and I couldn’t put it in the water at that point,” Calcavecchia said. “I pulled the tee shot about five feet, but it was basically a good shot.”

Then, Calcavecchia came close to making birdie on the hole, his putt sliding three feet past the cup. He settled for par.

Mudd, 29, who got his third victory in his eight years on the tour, was asked to describe his emotions when he approached the 17th.

“I just kept saying, ‘You’ve got 145 yards. It’s a nine-iron shot and just hit to the middle of the green,’ ” Mudd said. “If Mark wants to try to make a birdie, then let him be the aggressor, because I still had a one-shot lead.

“I made a good swing, pushed it a little bit and it went right to the flag. Then, I thought to myself if I could make this putt it would give me a two-shot cushion.

“I knew Mark would try to make birdie on the 18th.”

Calcavecchia, who is also 29, had no other option. He said he he crushed a three wood down the left side of the fairway, but safely away from water that borders the hole on the left.

Mudd’s drive found the right rough and he had a sidehill lie with a tree in front of him.

“I hit a real respectable second shot,” Mudd said. “I had about 170 yards to the front of the green. I had to aim the ball to the water, cut it and roll it up on the green and it was the only shot I had other than to layup.

“I took a five iron and executed it properly, but when the ball hit front of the green it stopped.”

Calcavecchia said he didn’t hit a nine-iron hard enough for his second shot and he was 30 feet below the hole.

Mudd’s third shot was only 18 feet short of the cup and he two putted for his bogey, the winning putt a one-foot tap in after Calcavecchia two putted.

“I just can’t believe I won this tournament,” said Mudd, a quiet spoken pro from Louisville, Ky. “The way my game is it just doesn’t lend itself to this golf course.”

Mudd had a one shot lead over Calcavecchia and Green after completing the rain-delayed third round in the morning.

Mudd never lost his lead, and was three strokes ahead of Calcavecchia and Green after nine holes.

The players didn’t complain about the hard, bumpy greens Sunday, saying that Saturday’s rain enabled the balls to hold better on the putting surfaces.

Mudd, an easy going sort, didn’t complain at any time.

“I grew up playing public courses,” he said, “so I know all about bumpy greens.”

So he proved. As for Calcavecchia, the British Open champion, he has his tour-leading earnings to console him.