LAS VEGAS — Jonathan Byrd figured there was barely enough light left to play one more hole.
Turns out he only needed one more swing.
In a swift and shocking finish yesterday, Byrd made a hole-in-one with a 6-iron on the fourth extra hole to win a three-man playoff in the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospital Open. The PGA Tour said it was the first sudden-death playoff decided by an ace.
“It’s kind of hard to process because I’m still kind of in shock,” Byrd said.
Moments earlier, Byrd’s approach on the 18th tumbled over the green and was one hop away from going into the water when it settled into a clump of grass. He chipped up to 7 feet and saved par to stay in the playoff.
Then came the decision.
Byrd, defending champion Martin Laird and Cameron Percy discussed whether there was enough light to continue. They agreed to go one more hole — the 204-yard 17th at the TPC Summerlin — with the understanding any of them could stop if they couldn’t read their putts on the green.
That wasn’t necessary.
Byrd had the honors and hit a slight draw toward the flag. That’s about all he saw. The ball landed about 10 feet short of the hole and rolled in like a putt.
“It started perfect, it turned perfect and it was coming right down the flag,” Byrd said. “I thought I hit it too good. I thought I hit it too far. And I couldn’t see anything. But to hear the reaction as it went in, I was just in shock.”
Byrd said he tried to control his emotion because Laird and Percy, a tour rookie from Australia, still had to tee off.
Both hit into the water.