Chacarra made a par on the par-five 18th, two putting from 30 feet, while Jones, 20 years his senior, missed a five-footer for a five at Fairmont St Andrews — after one of the most exciting ever finishes on the Asian Tour.

Both players had birdied the final hole in normal time to finish tied on 19-under, with Chacarra carding a five-under-par 67 and Jones a 69.

Australian Andrew Dodt (68) and Jaco Ahlers (69) from South African finished one stroke short of the play-off.

Chile’s Mito Pereira and Gaganjeet Bhullar from India both returned 70s, and were another shot back.

The previous longest play-off took place at the 2001 SK Telecom Open in Korea, when local player Charlie Wi triumphed after seven holes against countryman Kang Wook-soon and Simon Yates from Scotland.

Epic @asiantourgolf playoff ends on 10th playoff hole with @Eugeniochacarra winning #SABC over Matt Jones for his 2nd pro victory

2 hours, 8 minutes to complete the playoff

How Chacarra fared on each playoff hole

Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie
Par
Par
Birdie
Par
Par pic.twitter.com/cv9VSpGfZ9

— Mike McAllister (@thegolfeditor) August 27, 2023

“It was a long day,” said Chacarra. “Happy it came out my way, but I mean, Matt had a tremendous day as well. Tremendous 10 holes, I think we all know he’s a great player. Thank you very much it came out my way but I’m sure Matt will win a lot of more events.

“It was amazing, I think the Asian Tour is doing amazing things. I mean, they’re growing the game of golf and I had a lot of fun. We normally don’t get these good days in Scotland, so it was awesome. I mean, obviously I got the win so it would make it a little more fun, but it was awesome. Yeah, thanks to the Asian Tour and International Series for what they’re doing and hopefully we can come back a lot more years.”

Eugenio Chacarra. Asian Tour

This is the 23-year-old’s first 72-hole victory since turning professional last year, while he also claimed the individual title in last year’s LIV Golf Bangkok.

Two-time Australian Open winner Jones, who like Chacarra plays on the LIV Golf League, was looking for his first win since the 2021 Honda Classic on the PGA Tour and felt it was his putting that let him down.

He said: “I threw away a golf tournament with the way I putted during the tournament, and in the play-off. I putted pretty awful all week. I missed a lot of short ones. My speed was terrible, but I hit some nice shots.  It is always good to get into contention, but I am done now, I am tired.”

The 43-year-old appeared out of it on the third extra hole but sensationally chipped in from 25 feet to keep his chances alive.

The play-off was just one short of the all-time longest sudden-death play-off: the 1949 Motor City Open, between Cary Middlecoff and Lloyd Mangrum, which lasted 11 holes before they decided to share the honours.

Overnight-leader Turk Pettit from the United States closed with 74 and tied for eighth on 15-under, along with countryman Andrew Ogletree.

Ogletree helped maintain his dominance of the Asian Tour and International Series rankings after closing with a fine six birdies and no bogeys 65. Unlike this week, he was the runaway winner last week at the International Series England, where he triumphed by seven.

The St Andrews Bay Championship concludes the Asian Tour’s ‘UK Summer Swing’. The Tour heads to Korea next for the Shinhan Donghae Open, to be played on the Ocean Course at Club72 from September 7-10 -— one of 11 more events scheduled to complete the season.

The post LIV Golf showdown as Chacarra beats Jones in epic play-off at inaugural St Andrews Bay Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

David Puig put himself in pole position for a first professional title at the St Andrews Bay Championship on the Asian Tour International Series on Friday.

The Spaniard opened up a three-shot lead at the halfway point of the sixth International Series event of the season thanks to a spectacular eight-under-par 64 — the lowest round of the week so far — to reach 14-under, with South African Jaco Ahlers in second place, following a 67.

Australians Matt Jones (65) and Andrew Dodt (68), Eugenio Chacarra (66) from Spain, England’s James Wilson (66), American Micah Lauren Shin (67), Korean Seungtaek Lee (67) and Chile’s Mito Pereira (68) are in a tie for third, four behind Puig.

Players took advantage of the bright and calm conditions at Fairmont St Andrews, where the Torrance Course is being used, to shoot low scores, with Puig once again excelling, making nine birdies, to go with the 10 he made yesterday.

Six of those birdies today came on the back nine, including the last four.

“Played pretty good again,” said Puig. “Didn’t start that good on the first five holes swing wise, but yeah, after number five, the par- three, I think I played very well and hit it very good off the tee. And almost made every putt I needed to make, so yeah, I’m very happy with my game.”

He’s come close to winning before on the Asian Tour, at last year’s International Series Morocco, where he was third, and last week’s International Series England, where he tied for fourth.

He has, however, enjoyed phenomenal team success on the LIV Golf League this season, winning four team titles with Torque — the franchise also consisting of captain Joaquin Niemann, Sebastian Munoz and Pereira.

Puig says he is reaping the rewards of many hours of practice and preparation.

“Off the tee I got a lot better for sure. I got longer and straighter with pretty much every club, which obviously helps a ton especially on courses like this one where you need to get to fairways,” he said,

“I would say because of focusing too much on that, maybe I am not that good, or as good as I want to be, or as good as I was with the wedges, but it’s a work in progress. I know it’s the best part of my game, it just didn’t show up yet the way I want it. But yeah, I mean working with Dave Phillips, who is my coach, we’ve been working hard, swing wise, setup wise and also in the gym, so very, very happy with the improvement.”

The post LIV Golf’s Puig birdies last four to take control of St Andrew Bay Championship appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.