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Late birdies help Sheehan reach, win ARFC playoff

BOGART - Growing impatient in the players-only lounge, Michael Sim strode to the practice tee to punch some wedge shots into a steady rain. He occasionally glanced back at the 18th green, listening for polite applause, fearing an eruption.

He heard the latter.

Patrick Sheehan made birdie on the final hole of regulation, then dashed the young Australian's hopes with a 22-footer on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the Athens Regional Foundation Classic on Sunday.

"Michael had to be thinking he was winning this tournament," Sheehan said.

And it certainly appeared that he would.

Sim tied the course record at Jennings Mill Country Club with a 9-under 63 on Sunday, storming from seven shots back to post a 14-under 274 total.

His spot in tournament lore secure, he watched from the range as Sheehan sank an 8-foot birdie to force the playoff. Sim had a closer view of Sheehan's winning putt on the first extra hole, which came after a miraculous recovery from a mud puddle.

"I thought I had the advantage off the tee, but give credit to him," Sim said. "To win tournaments, you have to make putts."

Overshadowed by Sheehan's win, his first since 2002, was 24-year-old Sim's performamance.

He carded an eagle and seven birdies in his bogey-free round of 63.

"He's going to be an absolute world-beater," Sheehan said of Sim, the Tour's leading money-winner this season. "He's not going to be out here long. He's that good."

But Sheehan is equally resilient.

The 39-year-old, who has conditional status on the Nationwide Tour this season, began the final round two shots behind Bob Burns, but quickly erased that deficit and took the outright lead by the fifth hole.

The lead began to dwindle on the back nine, when Sheehan three-putted No. 13, failed to birdie the reachable par-5 14th and didn't get up and down from a greenside bunker at 15.

Standing on the daunting 16th tee, trailing by two strokes, Sheehan looked to caddie Billy Carlucci and said: "Let's make two more birdies."

Sheehan drained a 15-footer on 16, made par at 17 and then stiffed his wedge shot inside 10 feet on the par-5 finishing hole. He snuck the 8-foot putt inside the left edge of the cup to force the playoff.

"I didn't give up on it," Sheehan said, "but it certainly wasn't center-cut."

They were escorted back to the 18th tee box, where Sheehan proceeded to push his tee shot down the right side. His ball hit the cart path and settled in a trampled, muddy ditch - just his fifth missed fairway of the week.

"It looked like Michael was going to be walking in by himself," said Sheehan, who was offered a free drop by a rules official because of casual water, but preferred the clean - albeit muddy - lie in the rough.

Sheehan made a superb recovery from the slop, slapping a 5-iron down the fairway, between the bordering hazards. From 141 yards, his 9-iron approach landed 22 feet from the cup.

Sim was in ideal position to make birdie, sitting 75 yards away with a perfect angle to the flag. But his approach landed in an old pitch mark and stopped short of the ridge, 40 feet from the cup.

"I really don't know what happened on the pitch," Sim said. "I hit the perfect shot, I had a great number and it just stopped."

After Sim missed his putt, Sheehan calmly stroked his and began to backpedal as the ball neared the cup. He pumped his fist and roared to the crowd as it tumbled in at the perfect speed.

It was validation for a guy who made 27 cuts in 35 starts on the PGA Tour last season, finishing 128th on the money list yet losing his fully-exempt status.

"I didn't get my Tour card when I was 25, I wasn't just a hot-shot out of college," Sheehan said. "I just scraped and clawed my way through it, and I'm still doing that."

Sheehan finished one shot ahead of Darron Stiles, who missed a 30-footer on the 72nd hole and settled for a 66 and third place.

Garth Mulroy (65), John Riegger (66), Daniel Summerhays (69), Rich Barcelo (71) and Burns (73) each made separate runs during the final round, only to fall short down the stretch and finish in a tie for fourth at 11 under.