Experience Helps Mahaffey Defeat Mudd in Texas Open Golf Tournament Playoff

SAN ANTONIO — John Mahaffey called on 15 years of PGA Tour experience to defeat Jodie Mudd in a sudden-death playoff Monday in the Texas Open golf tournament.

“That’s the second time this year I’ve played one of the younger fellows in a playoff,” the 37-year-old Mahaffey said. “The first time, Mark Wiebe beat me at the Anheuser-Busch. I figured, well, I’ve got a semi-rookie here and I’ll try to put him away on the first hole.’ That was dumb.

“This time, I just wanted to play good, solid, smart golf.”

And he did.

Mahaffey made a couple of routine, two-putt pars on the playoff holes and let the 25-year-old Mudd make the mistake, which came on the par-3 second hole at the Oak Hills Country Club course.

With Mahaffey safely on the green, Mudd hit into a bunker. He failed to get out with his first sand shot, hit the next 15 feet beyond the pin and missed his first putt.

That enabled Mahaffey to two-putt for the par that provided him with his eighth Tour triumph, his first of the season and his first in Texas.

The $63,000 win from the total purse of $350,000 pushed Mahaffey’s earnings this season to $303,360, a personal best.

Mudd was seeking his first Tour title but had to settle for his third runner-up finish of the year and a $37,800 check.