Kuchar, Taylor all tied

VERONA — Matt Kuchar wished he could have taken back his third shot on the 18th hole at the end of his final round.

Vaughn Taylor bemoaned a wayward drive on the second hole of the playoff that possibly cost him a shot at winning.

Unfortunately, neither player could replay their poorest strokes Sunday as they battled down the stretch of the Turning Stone Resort Championship. And when the day was done at Atunyote Golf Club, cut short by the lack of daylight, Kuchar and Taylor faced an early morning tee time today to decide the champion.

They will tee it up on the par-4 13th hole, the third playoff hole, at 8:30 a.m. with $1,800,000 on the line. Both Kuchar and Taylor, who finished at 17-under-par 271, agreed it will be tough to come back, but that it means they have a shot to enhance their careers, along with their bank accounts.

"If you had told me Tuesday that I'd have to play maybe one or two holes Monday to win, I would have taken that in a second," said Kuchar, the third-round co-leader who shot a 3-under-par 69 to make it into the playoff in search of his second career victory. "I gave myself a chance to win today, but it didn't quite happen. The (tournament) officials did absolutely the right thing by stopping it when they did. It was getting really tough to see, especially reading putts."

Taylor, a two-time winner on tour, both at the Reno-Tahoe Open, said just to make it to the playoff was almost like winning after he started the day three shots behind. He fashioned a final-round 6-under-par 66, his best round of the tournament.

"I couldn't have played any better on the back nine (shooting 4-under-par) to catch Matt," Taylor said. "But I guess I needed one more birdie. Would I have liked to keep going? Yes. But not if the conditions aren't good enough."

The playoff started on the par-5 18th hole, which both players parred in regulation. This time, Kuchar sunk an 8-foot birdie putt, and Taylor hit his third shot to 3-feet and sunk the putt to extend the playoff.

"I hit one of my best wedge shots of the week there," Taylor said. "That's where having ball in hand is really an advantage."

Kuchar had chunked a 60-yard wedge shot into the front bunker in regulation only to nearly hole out his sand shot and win. This time, he laid back further, hit a solid wedge and what he described as "a perfect putt" to keep playing.

"I was looking forward to testing myself again after that poor half-wedge," said Kuchar, who won the 2006 Henrico Country Open on the Nationwide Tour in a playoff. "You can't beat yourself up over a bad shot. I was able to kind of stay composed and go ahead and get that ball up-and-down and force a playoff."

On the second playoff hole, the par-5 12th, Taylor hit his tee 30 yards left, beyond the cart path. Because players were still able to lift, clean and place the ball in the rough, he had a shot. However, he pulled his iron back in the left rough and needed to hit a good third shot just to give himself a shot at birdie from 20 feet.

"One of my poorest swings of the day off that tee," said Taylor, who captured a four-way playoff at Reno in 2004. "That fairway is probably one of the widest on the course, so there is no excuse."

Kuchar drove into the fairway on 12, but pulled his second shot left behind a television tower. After taking a drop, he pitched to 21 feet. Both players just missed birdie on the same line.

After talking with PGA Tour official Slugger White about whether to continue, they shook hands and called it a day.

"The ball was way below my feet on that second shot, which usually means a slice," Kuchar said. "But I came over the top and pulled it instead. Actually, I thought I made that putt."

Taylor's final nine included an eagle 3 on the 12th hole, where he holed out from 70 yards, and back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17 to assume the outright lead at one point.

Kuchar, winless on tour since the 2002 Buick Classic, was in the mix all day, shooting 2-under-par on the front nine. He fell back with a bogey on 13, but made a terrific downhill 18-footer on the par-3 16th hole to tie Taylor again.

"All had to do was get that putt started," Kuchar said. "About 15 feet from the hole I knew it was in. Then I made a good stroke on 17 but jut missed that one."

At one time, six players were tied for the lead, including first-day co-leaders Tim Petrovic and Leif Olson. Petrovic fired a final-round 67 and Olson, a rookie, a 69 to tie for third place at 16-under-par 272.

OCHOA DEFENDS TOURNEY TITLE

Lorena Ochoa successfully defended her Navistar LPGA Classic title, overcoming early troubles to shoot a 2-under 70 for a four-stroke victory over Michelle Wie and Brittany Lang in Prattville, Ala.

Ochoa finished at 18-under 270 on The Senator course at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail's Capitol Hill complex to snap an 11-start winless streak dating to late April.

HAAS TOPS WATSON FOR TITLE

Jay Haas charged past Tom Watson to win the Senior Players Championship by a stroke, at Timonium, Md., birdieing the 18th hole to match the course record with a 6-under 64 in the final Champions Tour major of the season.

The 60-year-old Watson was tying to become the oldest major winner on the 50-and-over tour.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.