Submitted by CanTour Communications John Berkovich
EDMONTON, Alta. - James Hahn shot a final round 66 and parred the first playoff hole to win the TELUS Edmonton Open over Jim Rutledge.
Both players finished the tournament at 16 under par 272.
Andrew Parr (68) and Graham DeLaet (70) shared third spot at 274 while Barrett Jarosch's 64 moved him into a tie for fifth with Rob Grube who had a 67.
Both players finished at 276.
Click here for the final round leaderboard.
Mauricio Molina (66) and Brian Unk (68) finished T-7 at 277, one ahead of Brent Schwarzrock and Richard Scott with 67s, Garrett Sapp (68), Wes Heffernan (69) and George Coetzee who had a 71.
Teeing off first, Rutledge pushed his tee shot into the hazard with Hahn finding the middle of the fairway with a 2-iron.
Rutledge hit his third to 20 feet and badly misread the par putt, while Hahn two-putted for the title $24,000.
"When Jim hit it into the hazard I was able to relax a bit," said Hahn. "I striped a 2-iron down the middle of the fairway and was able to hit it to about 15 feet and two-putt.
"Jim is such a great player and it is unfortunate what happened to him."
Hahn birdied the first hole and turned in five under but the lead was shared many times this afternoon.
"Once I got to five under on my round, I began to relax and just hit golf shots," continued Hahn.
"I thought Jim (Rutledge) bogeyed 17 but it was his par putt so I knew I had to birdie one of the last two.
"I hit my drive at 18 about 350 and hit it up to about 15 feet. Brady (Stockton) told me to give it my best shot and I barely missed the putt to win in regulation.
"There is an unreal feeling about all of this," continued Hahn. "I came out here last year and gave myself two or three years before I thought I would even start contending.
"I didn't expect a win to come so soon although you dream about it all the time."
This was the fourth consecutive time Glendale has seen at Edmonton Open playoff, and this time the one on the losing end was six-time Canadian Tour winner Jim Rutledge.
"I hit it solid but I just pushed it," said Rutledge. "I don't know why it is but I have a bad record in playoffs.
"I got off to a heck of a good start today and got it to five under on the front nine. I didn't do anything different on the back side but didn't convert some birdie opportunities."
"I hung it on the lip at 16 and was in an ideal spot at 17. I was trying to hit it to the back of the green and have it come back but ended up in the trap."
For a time, it looked to be a four horse race but both DeLaet and Parr couldn't maintain the pace.
Parr nailed an eagle from 18 feet at the first, while DeLaet, bunkered with his second, blasted out to five feet and twice backed away from the putt – which he missed – when bothered by a local photographer standing in his line.
Yet the Weyburn, Sask., native birdied five and six to move into a tie at 14 under with James Hahn – who birdied four of his first six – and Jim Rutledge, who birdied one, four, five and six.
Rutledge and Hahn birdied the par-5 ninth while DeLaet three-putted from 30 feet for par.
DeLaet and Hahn then dropped a shot at 10, got it right back at 11, but both bogeyed 14, leaving the pair two back of Rutledge who birdied to move to 16 under.
Hahn sliced Rutledge’s lead in half with a birdie at 15 and caught him with an 8-footer for birdie at No. 17.
In the Clubhouse
Two back at the start, Brady Stockton had a long afternoon. After a birdie at the first, he shot 40 on the front side and 43 on the back.
Barrett Jarosch's 64 is one off the course record.
The top five players on the Order of Merit receive invitations to the Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. Those players are Mauricio Molina, Byron Smith, Graham DeLaet, Mike Grob and Stuart Anderson
Both Jim Rutledge (5) and Rafael Gomez (6) are already exempt, so Anderson gets the final ticket.
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