Skip Kendall wins with long birdie on 18

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BOGOTA, Colombia -- Skip Kendall holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole Sunday for an even-par 71 and a one-stroke victory in the Nationwide Tour's season-opening Colombia Championship.

At 47 years, 5 months, 10 days, Kendall became the fourth-oldest winner in Nationwide history. He finished at 10-under 274 at the Country Club of Bogota and earned $108,000 for his third career Nationwide title.

Andres Gonzales and Andrew Svoboda tied for second. Gonzales closed with a 68, and Svoboda had a 72. Svoboda had a chance to force a playoff, but his 20-foot birdie try came up inches short.

"It was one of those putts that you could get a good line on and I had a really good feeling over it," Kendall said. "Fortunately, I hit a good putt and to see it tracking toward the middle of the hole was pretty special. In a way, I'm glad I went first and made the putt."

James Hahn (70) and 49-year old Kirk Triplett (72) tied for fourth at 8 under.

Kendall rallied after bogeying the first two holes.

"In a way, it relaxed me because I figured I got my bogeys out of the way," he said. "I thought, 'Let's just move on and try to hit solid shots.' I knew Andrew was ahead of me all day at 11 under, so I figured if I could hang on to his coattails and try to catch him that I'd be in pretty good shape."

Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

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