CLIFTON, N.J. -- Allen Doyle overcame painful back spasms to win the $1.1 million Cadillac NFL Golf Classic, beating Joe Inman in a four-hole playoff Sunday.
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| Allen Doyle won for the third time this season with the help of daughter Erin, who caddied for him. |
Despite limping all day and seeing his four-shot lead evaporate, Doyle picked up his third win of the year and became the first Senior Tour player to pass the $1 million mark in earnings in 1999 by
rolling in a 5-foot par putt.
"This was unbelievable," Doyle said. "If someone had told me the way I felt the past three days that I would win, I would have said they were crazy."
The winning putt came after Inman, who had forced the playoff by shooting a final-round 6-under 66, lipped out an 8-foot par putt on the 215-yard, par-3 17th.
Doyle then gingerly bent over his putt and rammed it in the middle of the cup to end an agonizing five-hour round at the Upper Montclair Country Club. It was the last thing he wanted on a day when pain was his constant companion.
Bruce Fleisher is the only other player on the Senior Tour with three wins this year.
"I really played well," said Inman. "Allen just kept making those 5- and 6-foot putts. I have no regrets. I thought I hit that putt on 17 perfectly. I would hit it the same way if I could do it again."
Inman and Doyle, who had a 71 Sunday, came within inches of winning and losing this tournament on the last hole of regulation and then again in the playoff. The both finished three rounds with 12-under 204 totals.
Inman made a great save on the 54th hole after hitting his second shot on the par-5 into a pond. His pitch from 40 yards landed 2 feet from the cup and he tapped in for par. Doyle's 12-foot birdie putt for the win went over the hole.
Doyle nearly lost the tournament on the first extra hole, hitting his drive on No. 18 under a tree. He pitched out and eventually saved par with a 4-foot putt.
On the second playoff hole, the 17th, Doyle's 3-foot par putt did a 360 around the cup before falling.
Doyle had a chance to win on the third extra hole but his 15-footer at No. 18 slid past the cup.
Doyle had a four-shot lead after two rounds, the largest on the tour this year. His greatest adversary during that time was his back, which started spasming midway through the first round and did it again early in the second.
It was his biggest enemy Sunday. On almost every hole, Doyle could be seen bending over and stretching from side to side in an attempt to loosen up his back.
"He labored all day," said Lee Trevino, whose 10-under total gave him third place, two shots behind the leaders. "He didn't even get a chance to practice. He took four shots on the range and went for treatment. He didn't hit his shots as crisply, but he didn't complain. He just kept digging."
Raymond Floyd, who had a 67, and Mike McCullough, who closed with a 69, were tied for fourth, another two shots back.
Inman started the final round five shots behind Doyle but he quickly got into contention playing the front nine in 6-under 30, making birdies on five of the last six holes.
When Inman rolled in a 10-footer on the par-4, 455-yard 9th, he momentarily took the lead at 12 under.
Doyle, who parred the first eight holes, was about 170 yards from the green when Inman got that birdie. He then mustered his strength, hit an iron within 6 feet and rolled in the birdie to tie for the lead.
Doyle briefly took the lead again when Inman missed an 8-foot par putt on the par-4 12th. However, Inman came right back and made a 10-foot birdie on the next hole to get back into a tie.
"I was really concerned at the turn," said Erin Doyle, his daughter and caddie. "He was really hurting. At impact, he was just bracing himself."
But Doyle's trademark is his tenaciousness, his daughter said.
"He's the most competitive person I've ever seen in my life," she said.
Trevino, looking for his first win in 14 months, had chances to add a senior-high 29th career win. He missed a 4-foot birdie putt on No. 1 and bogeyed No. 9 after putting a short approach from the fairway into a bunker.
Defending champion Bob Dickson, who won last year's event in a playoff, never challenged the final two days and finished at 1-over 217.
