Reid wins Tradition in playoff

[August 24, 2009]  SUNRIVER, Ore. (AP) -- Mike Reid raised his arms and let out a heavy sigh after sinking his playoff-winning birdie putt in the Jeld-Wen Tradition. Then he humbly removed his cap to shake the hand of opponent John Cook.

Only when Reid hugged his son Daniel, his caddie, did the tears start to well.

"He (Daniel) had a look on his face like, `Well, what did you expect?'" Reid said afterward. "I felt like I'd just climbed Mount Everest."

Reid's 12-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole Sunday at Crosswater Golf Club gave him his second career victory, and second major, on the Champions Tour. He also won the 2005 Senior PGA Championship.

Cook's approach shot on the playoff hole, No. 18, came to rest about 15 feet away and his downhill putt for birdie missed just left.

Reid shot a final-round 70 and Cook had a 69 to finish at 16-under 272.

Cook, who was two strokes behind leader Brad Bryant going into the final round, birdied the par-3 No. 17 hole to take a one-stroke lead to the final hole. But he hit into the bunker, settling for a bogey and forcing the playoff with Reid, who made par on the hole.

"I didn't play like a champion," Cook said.

Bryant, who opened with a career-best 62, stumbled to a final-round 73 to wrap up with a 14-under 274. His opening round matched Doug Tewell's record set in 2001 and matched by Tom Watson in 2003.

Reid joins Peter Jacobsen as having two Champions Tour victories in majors. The Provo, Utah, resident won twice on the PGA Tour.

Reid had not finished within the top 10 this year. His best finish was in a group at 12th at the Principal Charity Classic in West Des Moines, Iowa.

"It got to the point where it was hard for me to paint that picture of holding the trophy," he said.

But his final putt of the day -- although wobbly -- put a trophy back in his hands.

"I was just hoping it had enough to get in the hole, and it looked like it went in on the last roll," he said.

Known as Radar for accuracy off the tee, Reid said his son's presence was the difference. Daniel Reid, a student at Brigham Young, has caddied for him four or five times this year.

Cook's best finish this season was a tie for third at the Legends of Golf tournament in Savannah, Georgia. Bryant's best was fourth at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open in June.

Larry Mize shot a 69 Sunday to finish at 13 under.

Defending champion Fred Funk was in a group tied for fifth with a final-round 69 for an 11-under 277. His three-shot victory over Mike Goodes last year was his first win in a major on the tour.

Funk was coming off a victory at the U.S. Senior Open, where he became the first player in a USGA championship to finish at 20-under par. A week earlier, he lost in a three-way playoff at the Senior British Open.

With top 10 finishes in the four Champions Tour majors so far this year, Funk remained in the lead for the Charles Schwab Cup.

Watson and Loren Roberts also finished at 11 under.

Watson had one of the biggest galleries on the 7,337-yard course built in the shadow of Mount Bachelor. He has said this week that he's met many well-wishers in the past month after losing in a playoff to Stewart Cink at the British Open.

The Tradition started at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale in 1989 before moving to Superstition Mountain for a year in 2002. With the help of Oregon native Jacobsen, the event moved again in 2003 to the Reserve Vineyards and Golf Club west of Portland, and in 2007 came to Crosswater.

[Associated Press; By ANNE M. PETERSON]

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.