Thomas scores vital Web.com Tour win

American Justin Thomas is a winner on the Web.com Tour after defeating South Africa’s Richard Sterne in a play-off at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.

American Justin Thomas has won his first Web.com Tour tournament, beating South Africa’s Richard Sterne in a play-off at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship after the pair finished tied at six-under-par.

Making only his 20th Web.com Tour start, Thomas sealed his first tour victory with a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Earlier, he’d faced an uphill battle on the back nine, trailing Sterne by three strokes with three holes to play. After making an eagle on the 12th to lead by three strokes, Sterne three-putted the 15th for bogey and made two further bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes to be tied with Thomas heading into the final hole.

Thomas parred the 18th to give Sterne, who was playing behind Thomas, the chance to make a winning a birdie. Sterne was unable to do so, sending the pair to a play-off. They required only one extra hole, after Thomas hit a wedge from 75 yards to within three feet. Sterne had a chance from 20 feet to extend the play-off but missed.

Richard Sterne (left) congratulates Justin Thomas after the play-off. PHOTO: Getty Images

By winning this third leg of the Web.com Tour finals, Thomas earned US$180,000 to jump from fifth to third on the moneylist with one event remaining. Having already wrapped up his PGA Tour card with a top-25 finish on the regular season moneylist, the victory also moved Thomas to ninth on the Web.com Tour finals priority rankings. Sterne’s second-place finish, meanwhile, was more than enough to secure a PGA Tour card for the 2014/2015 season.

Thomas was elated with his first win of his professional career. “It’s a tremendous honour. It means you’re the best that week and you beat everybody you played against. It’s a really cool feeling and it’s tough because it doesn’t happen very often, especially in professional golf.”

Players ranked 26th to 75th from the Web.com Tour moneylist and Nos.126 to 200 in the FedEx Cup standings are fighting for another 25 PGA Tour cards based on their earnings in the four Web.com Tour finals. The Web.com Tour Championship, the final tournament of the season, begins later this week at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.

LEADERBOARD

1. *Justin Thomas (USA) 67-69-72-70—278

2. Richard Sterne (RSA) 72-69-67-70—278

T3. Sean O’Hair (USA) 68-71-73-67—279

T3. Whee Kim (S.Kor) 71-72-67-69—279

5. J.J. Henry (USA) 74-70-69-67—280

*Won on first play-off hole

Also:

T42. Alistair Presnell (Vic) 72-72-74-72—290

T46. Cameron Percy (Vic) 73-69-78-71—291

T54. Aron Price (NSW) 70-72-75-76—293

T57. Steve Allan (Vic) 69-75-77-74—295