Hoch and Furyk Unable to Finish

Scott Hoch didn’t want to let a chance to win disappear in the dark, so he decided to stop playing Sunday night during his playoff with Jim Furyk in the PGA Ford Championship at Doral in Miami.

They will return this morning to finish, a decision that left fans booing and chanting when Hoch marked his nine-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole. Furyk had a six-foot birdie putt.

“There’s too much riding on this to play a shot on guesswork,” said Hoch, who is 47 and wonders how many opportunities he will have left to win on the PGA Tour.

Furyk had the option to putt but declined.

“I feel badly about it,” Furyk said. “It was Scott’s putt first. He made the call. I’m not sure what I would have done.”

A routine duel between Ryder Cup partners took on a surreal finish in fading sunlight over the Blue Monster at Doral.

Furyk saved par from next to the bleachers on the final hole to shoot 68. One group later, Hoch also sailed the green and had to get up-and-down for par from next to the grandstand for his 69. They finished at 17-under-par 271.

Bob Tway, a co-leader going into the final round, was slowed by nine consecutive pars and wound up with a 71 to finish in third, two strokes out of the playoff. Tim Petrovic (67) was another shot back.

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Tiger Woods’ withdrawal made it possible for Robert-Jan Derksen to even play in the Dubai Desert Classic. The payoff came when he stole the show from Ernie Els.

Derksen, the first alternate until Woods decided to skip the tournament in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, for safety reasons, hit a delicate pitch to five feet for birdie on the 18th hole for a seven-under-par 65 and a one-stroke victory over Els. He finished at 17-under 271 and earned about $300,000.

Derksen was not even ranked among the top 3,000 in the world going into the tournament. He never had finished in the top 10 at a European tour event, and only four months ago made it through qualifying school for the sixth time.

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David Eger birdied three of the last four holes to win the MasterCard Classic in Mexico City by a stroke for his first Champions Tour title. He shot a seven-under-par 65 to finish at 12 under and earn $300,000.

Defending champion Bruce Lietzke stayed with Eger until making bogey at the 15th hole and dropped into a four-way tie at 11 under with Hale Irwin, Eamonn Darcy and Tom Jenkins.