For Once, It’s Good to Be No. 173

Heartbroken by twice barely missing victories last year, Ted Purdy had a birdie putt on every hole and closed with a five-under 65 to win the Byron Nelson Championship at Irving, Texas, for his first PGA Tour title.

The tournament began with hype over the Big Five of golf playing together for only the third time this year. It ended with the trophy going to the 173rd-ranked Purdy, who played methodically for a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair. Purdy finished with a 15-under 265 total and earned $1.16 million.

“It’s just euphoric,” Purdy said. “Under the circumstances, it’s the best round of golf I ever played. I guess on Sunday, to win a tournament, that’s how you do it.”

It also was an impressive performance by O’Hair, the 22-year-old rookie whose father pushed him to turn pro at age 17, a year before he finished high school. O’Hair, who started the day with a one-shot lead, birdied two of the last three holes for a 68 and earned $669,600, assuring the Q-school grad his card for next year and showing that he has the game to achieve greater things.

“I played my guts out today,” O’Hair said. “Now that I’ve got a taste of this, my feelings are, ‘Let’s go win a few tournaments.’ I’m not going to put a bunch of pressure on myself after this week. I played great. I’m just going to work my butt off and hopefully, I’ll be in this situation a lot more.”

Vijay Singh finished well, using a seven-iron for an ace on the 195-yard 17th hole and making a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 65. He tied for third with Bob Tway (67) and Doug Barron (69) at 11 under.

“Vijay is playing unbelievable, but I beat him,” Purdy said with a laugh.

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Jim Thorpe and Morris Hatalsky parred the first hole of a playoff before play was suspended because of darkness in the Champions Tour’s Blue Angels Classic at Milton, Fla. They are scheduled to resume play at 8 a.m. Central Time today.

Thorpe, coming off a victory two weeks ago in the FedEx Kinko’s Classic at Lakeway, Texas, forced the playoff by making a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation.

Thorpe closed with a three-under 67, and Hatalsky had a 66 to complete 54 holes at 16-under 194 on the Moors Golf Club course. Two rain delays -- for a total of 4 hours 18 minutes -- left time for only one extra hole in near darkness. Craig Stadler, tied for third after a second-round 60, had a 70 to tie for ninth at 11 under.

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Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn won the British Masters for his first PGA European Tour title since 2002, beating England’s David Howell with a par on the second hole of a playoff at Meriden, England.

Bjorn closed with a four-under 68 to match Howell and England’s Brian Davis at six-under 282 on the Forest of Arden course. Davis was eliminated on the first extra hole.