Delayed Win for Sabbatini

Frustrated by a slow playing partner and tired from a week of wet weather, Rory Sabbatini needed one last big shot to settle himself.

He got it Monday at the 13th hole, where he chipped in for eagle from 60 feet. The shot swung the momentum back to the South African, who went on to a four-stroke win at the FBR Capital Open.

“It’s not often you can hit shots like that, that come off like you want and react like you want,” Sabbatini said. “That was definitely a big confidence booster, and that kind of settled me down a little bit.”

Sabbatini, getting his second PGA Tour victory, shot a 68 to finish at 14-under 270. He was two shots ahead of Duffy Waldorf when the players walked off the 18th hole, but Waldorf later was assessed a two-stroke penalty reported by a television viewer.

Sabbatini’s first tour win was the 2000 Air Canada Championship, when he was only 24. He said winning for the second time on tour was harder because of the self-induced pressure to repeat.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had this feeling,” said Sabbatini, the only player to shoot in the 60s all four rounds.

The 18-hole Monday finish was needed after rain washed out play Saturday, leaving the course so waterlogged that a 36-hole Sunday finish was not feasible.

Even then, it took a long time to get finished. The fast-playing Sabbatini had his patience tested in a final group with the slow-playing Niclas Fasth. While Sabbatini would quickly decide on his clubs and take his shots, Fasth would double- and triple-check his reads for three-foot putts.

Sabbatini and Waldorf were set for a tense back nine, but then a TV viewer called the USGA to report Waldorf used his club to pat down a rough area in front of his ball before taking his second shot at the 12th hole.

Officials informed Waldorf at the 16th hole he might be facing a two-shot penalty. Waldorf was two shots behind Sabbatini at the time, and the news rattled him into bogeying the hole with an approach shot that landed by a drainage grate. Sabbatini made a birdie on the hole.

Waldorf argued his case after the round, but he lost the ruling -- and $150,000 in prize money as the two-stroke penalty dropped him into a second-place tie with Joe Durant and Fred Funk.