LAS VEGAS - Kevin Na finally won a sudden-death playoff on the PGA Tour when he least expected it.
Staked to a three-shot lead to start the back nine Sunday afternoon at TPC Summerlin, Na never imagined it would come down to that.
He made a triple bogey without hitting into a hazard on No. 10, though, and then he aimed at the flag and found the water on the par-5 16th for a bogey to lose the lead for the first time all day.
Just when he looked to be out of chances, Na saved himself with a 25-foot par putt on the 17th, made a 10-foot birdie to extend the playoff and then won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open when Patrick Cantlay made the worst mistake - the last one.
"Came down way too close," Na said.
Cantlay, who gave up a one-stroke lead by hitting a 9-iron shot into the water on the par-3 17th, three-putted from 45 feet on No. 18 on the second extra hole for bogey. Na rolled in his four-foot par putt to win in Las Vegas for the second time.
"I've been in this situation before where I lost the lead and I failed many times," said Na, who closed with a 1-under-par 70. "I've lost three playoffs. This is my first playoff win. I kept telling myself, 'This is the playoff I'm going to win.' It felt great to win."
It was a bitter finish for Cantlay, who won his first PGA Tour event in Las Vegas in 2017 in a playoff but had to settle for a runner-up finish the second straight year.
Cantlay took his first lead with a two-putt birdie on the 16th, only for his 9-iron shot to come up short and just far enough to the left that rolled down into the water. He still looked as though he would head to the final hole until Na made his 25-foot par putt.
Even after his bogey on the 17th, Cantlay was poised to win in regulation when he hit the longest drive of the final round - 345 yards - and had only 113 yards left. He got no closer than 25 feet on the approach, though, and his putt hung on the right edge of the putt.
Cantlay, trying to win for the third time when facing a deficit of at least three shots, closed with a 68. He and Na finished at 23-under 261.
On the first extra hole, Na hit a wedge shot to just inside 10 feet. Cantlay was just outside 10 feet - on the same line as his 25-foot birdie chance in regulation - and made it. Na poured his in, walking toward the hole before the ball dropped.
Cantlay's approach to the 18th on the second playoff hole was well short, and so was his birdie putt.
Pat Perez closed with a 68 to finish third, two strokes out of the playoff. Bryson DeChambeau (63), trying to repeat as champion, shared fourth with Adam Hadwin (63) and Brian Stuard (67) at 20 under.
Baylor School graduate Luke List (68) tied for 13th at 17 under.
Rahm repeats in Madrid
MADRID - Jon Rahm repeated as champion at the Spanish Open, beating the late Seve Ballesteros' record as the fastest Spaniard to reach five European Tour wins.
Golfing great Ballesteros, who died at age 54 in 2011, needed 49 events to get five wins on the tour. The 24-year-old Rahm did so in 39 tournaments after closing with a 5-under 66 to finish at 22-under 262 and win by five strokes at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.
"I can't wait to come back next year and hopefully do it three times," said three-time PGA Tour winner Rahm, who at No. 5 was the highest-ranked golfer in the field. "It was unlike anything else. Spanish crowds love golf, they love us coming back. It's hard to believe how many people come out here."
There was plenty for the gallery to celebrate Sunday with Rafa Cabrera Bello (66) the runner-up, Samuel del Val (68) third at 15 under and a fourth Spaniard, Adri Arnaus (68), sharing fourth at 13 under with Joachim Hansen (66) and Jeff Winther (63), who are both from Denmark.
Spanish great Sergio Garcia (65), the 2017 Masters winner, was part of a five-way tie for seventh at 12 under.
Big day for Knight
THE COLONY, Texas - Cheyenne Knight struggled so much this year, her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, that she made the cut in only half of her tournaments and figured she was headed back to the qualifying series.
One week changed everything.
In the only LPGA event in her home state of Texas, in what she thought would be her last tournament of the year, Knight played bogey-free in the final round, closing with a 5-under 66 for a two-shot victory in the Volunteers of America Classic.
Her first victory comes with a two-year exemption and makes her eligible for the Asia swing. At No. 49 in the Race to CME Globe standings, she is virtually assured of getting to the Tour Championship next month.
"I said when I got my card this was the event I was most looking forward to," Knight said. "Who would have thought this would help me secure my card? I thought I was going back to Q-school. To win this means everything, knowing I can persevere."
The 22-year-old former University of Alabama player was in tears even before players rushed onto the 18th green at Old American Golf Club and sprayed her with champagne and water. All season, Knight had pointed to his tournament she had previously played as an amateur - she grew up about an hour away in Aledo.
And she never plays without thinking of her brother Brandon, who died in a car accident when Knight was 12.
She dropped her putter and pointed to the sky when her two-foot par putt dropped to finish at 18-under 266, two shots ahead of Brittany Altomare (67) and Jaye Marie Green (69), a pair of fellow Americans also trying for their first titles.
"I think I had a second caddie. I know he's watching in heaven, and he's so proud of me," Knight said. "This is for Brandon."
Altomare got up and down from just short of the 17th green for a birdie to briefly tie for the lead. Knight, playing in the group behind, holed a 15-foot birdie putt to regain the lead.
Needing a birdie to have any chance, Altomare gunned her putt about six feet and missed the next one, taking bogey to clear the way for Knight.
Green began the final round with the lead and was one shot ahead through 10 holes until she bogeyed the 11th and 12th and never caught up. With a runner-up finish, Green moved to No. 48 in the Race to CME Globe and will be eligible for the Asia events, which do not have cuts.
England's Georgia Hall (66) and Jane Park (68) tied for fourth at 11 under.
Knight had not finished better than a tie for 29th this season going into her home event, which had the final full field of the year.