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James Hahn wins first PGA title with playoff win at Northern Trust Open

 
Published Feb. 23, 2015

LOS ANGELES — James Hahn turned in the performance of his life Sunday at the Northern Trust Open.

In trouble behind the 10th green at Riviera in a three-man playoff, he hit a flop shot over the back bunker and made a 10-foot putt to stay in the game when Dustin Johnson hit a shot that was even better. On the third extra hole, Hahn remembered the subtle break and holed a 25-foot birdie putt.

He was too nervous to watch Johnson try to match the birdie from 12 feet.

Then he was too stunned to dance.

By closing with a tough par for 2-under 69 and making two birdies in the playoff, Hahn captured his first PGA Tour title and earned his first trip to the Masters.

Until Sunday, he was best known as the guy who did the Gangnam Style dance before the crazies on the 16th hole at Phoenix.

"This is amazing," said Hahn, who finished regulation at 6-under 278. "I never would have thought I would win this tournament."

Hahn once sold shoes at a high-end department store to make a living. He was on the verge of giving up on golf in 2008 when he was down to his last $200 and decided then to work a little harder. Sunday, he won in a playoff over Johnson and Paul Casey, weaving through traffic on the back nine in which seven players had at least a share of the lead.

Johnson, in his third tournament back from his six-month break for "personal challenges," had gone 21 holes without a bogey and was tied for the lead with Sergio Garcia with a lob wedge for his third shot to the par-5 17th. He hit into a bunker and made bogey then narrowly missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to win it. He shot 69.

Casey made a late surge only to bogey the last hole for 68. Hahn joined with a tough up-and-down for par on the 18th.

Garcia was playing the 17th behind them and had a one-shot lead. But the Spaniard three-putted from 50 feet on the fringe for bogey then chipped weakly to 25 feet on the 18th for another bogey and 71.

LPGA: New Zealand's Lydia Ko made her second start as world No. 1 a winning one, shooting a final-round 2-under 71 for a two-stroke victory over South Korea's Amy Yang in the Women's Australian Open in Melbourne. The South Korean-born Ko finished with a 72-hole total of 9-under 283 on the composite course at Royal Melbourne. Yang shot a final-round 72. Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand, who was tied with Ko after three rounds in the LPGA, European Tour and Australian Ladies event, shot 76 to finish third, five strokes behind Ko.