Choi celebrates at the 17th hole, just the way it should be

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- It came down to the 17th, just like it should on championship Sunday at TPC Sawgrass. Sure, the 18th is a great finishing hole, but the par-3 island green is the Stadium Course's signature hole; heck, it may even be golf's signature hole.

So it's only fitting that K.J. Choi celebrated his biggest victory on a green which so many have difficulty finding, even though the tee box is just 130 yards away.

This time, however, THE PLAYERS Championship wasn't decided by a shot that ended up in the water surrounding the 17th. It wasn't decided by a tee shot at all, but rather a missed 3-1/2 foot par putt by David Toms that would have extended Sunday's playoff to another hole. A watery grave evidently isn't the only way to a broken dream at the 17th.

Having grinded through a long day that started at 7:45 a.m. ET to complete the third round, Choi and Toms emerged as the lone survivors at 13 under, two 40-somethings looking to break personal victory droughts -- Toms' last TOUR win was five years ago, Choi's was three years ago.

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KODAK CHALLENGE

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Photos from No. 17

Playoffs generally don't begin at a par 3, but there's no more appropriate hole for a PLAYERS playoff than the 17th. Four years ago, Sergio Garcia won when Paul Goydos' tee shot found the water. But when Sunday's playoff began, Choi wasn't immediately sure where it would start.

"I didn't know in the beginning that they were going to start at the 17th hole," said Choi, who moved to sixth in the FedExCup standings with his win. "But I remember Garcia playing on the 17th hole, so I assumed that because it's such a famous hole that we would start the playoff on that hole."

The Korean went first, his 9-iron safely on but 41 feet from the pin. Toms followed with a 9-iron that landed inside 19 feet. Clutch shots by both, but Toms had the big advantage, the better opportunity to close out a tournament he led most of the afternoon.

A few minutes earlier, Toms had birdied the 72nd hole from 17 feet to force overtime. He called it "the best putt I've had in an awful long time."

Now, after Choi safely navigated his long putt to three feet, Toms faced a similar putt with much bigger implications.

When he struck the putt, Toms thought it was in. Instead, it rolled well past the hole, leaving Toms with that 3-1/2-foot comebacker, uphill and into the grain. On a bumpy green, it was a difficult lie ... and it wasn't meant to be.

Needing a solid stroke, Toms instead hit his putt on the toe and didn't get it rolling. No excuses, no spike marks, no ball marks. Just a bad putt.

Toms had made each of his first 55 putts inside five feet this week. This was his 56th and last one. And the most costly one.

"I just wasn't there on the putt," he said. "I was probably thinking ahead and thinking about the next hole, and I just got up there and missed it."

FedExCup standings

With his win at THE PLAYERS Championship, K.J. Choi moved into sixth in the FedExCup standings. • Latest standings

The disappointment quickly poured over Toms' face. Choi, too, felt bad for his fellow pro, even as the door blew wide open.

"I felt very sorry for him," Choi said, "because I know how that feels."

Choi followed with his winning putt from inside three feet, putting the final note on a Sunday in which he had gone toe-to-toe with the 17th three times and emerged not only unscathed, but on the positive side of the ledger.

On Sunday morning, as Choi was completing his third round that didn't start until late Saturday thanks to the 4-1/2 weather delay, he found the bunker with his tee shot. He nearly holed his ensuing shot but was glad just to get away with par.

"If the bunker wasn't there," Choi said, "it would have been a double bogey for sure because it would have gone in the water."

Water Log: 17th hole

How many tee shots found the water at the famous 17th island green? Check out Sunday's numbers. Click here

Several hours later, Choi and Toms arrived at the 71st hole tied for the lead. Toms had led by a stroke just one hole earlier, but bogeyed the 16th when he found the water with his approach shot, an ill-timed decision to go for the par 5 in two even after Choi opted to lay up with his second shot.

Now at the 17th, Choi hit his tee shot to just outside 10 feet, then drained the birdie putt to take a one-shot lead with one hole to play.

But Toms, digging his approach shot out of a sand divot at the 72d hole, came through with that clutch birdie, inducing a roar at TPC Sawgrass that befits the TOUR's signature event.

Choi still had to make his par putt to secure the playoff. It was inside 5 feet, but Choi -- unlike Toms -- had struggled at that distance all day. He had missed one in the third round, and two more in the final round, giving away strokes that might come back to haunt him. Not this time.

"I knew that there was a chance that I could miss it," Choi said. "But what I said to myself was, let's just get the rhythm correct."

He did, and the next stop was the 17th one last time. A few minutes later, Choi was celebrating the eighth -- and most important -- win of his PGA TOUR career, leaving Toms to celebrate the smaller victories of being in contention and feeling good about his game.

"That's the interesting thing about a playoff hole on 17," Toms said. "A lot can happen really fast in a playoff. You can lose real quick. One swing, one putt and it's over."

For Choi, though, perhaps it's just starting. He turns 41 years old on Thursday and may just be in the prime of his career. Sunday's win is his fourth consecutive top-10 finish on TOUR. All the work with swing coach Steve Bann -- six years now -- is paying off.

"The swing that I have right now doesn't really break down under pressure situations," Choi said. "I was able to hit it precise and aggressive today and I was able to keep my rhythm together."

More importantly, he was able to stare down the 17th on three occasions Sunday. It's a fitting way to earn the TOUR's biggest prize.