KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Ryan Moore knows how to finish a tournament, and how to start a season.

For the second straight year, Moore won the CIMB Classic on Sunday, and for the third year running he won on the PGA Tour’s fall schedule to get a flying start to the season, having also won the Shriners’ Hospitals for Children Open in October 2012.

Moore shot a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke win, beating fellow American Gary Woodland for the second straight year. He finished on 17-under 271 at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club to become the first player to defend a title on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods at the Arnold Palmer Invitation in 2013.

Sergio Garcia (69) and Kevin Na (70) shared a three-way tie for second with Woodland (67).

Moore had eight birdies against three bogeys in the final round, and earned his fourth PGA Tour title with superb approach shots at the 14th and 17th holes for birdies, and some nerveless putting on the back nine.

“It was incredible to finish the way I did coming down those last few holes,” Moore said. “I like to tell myself all the time that `I am a closer. Let’s just do what we can, hit good shots and let’s close this thing’ and I was able to do that.”

What he wasn’t able to do yet is work out why he wins tournaments early in a new season and not after.

“I’ve been thinking about that for a while trying to figure out why,” Moore said. “Maybe it’s because the end is near. I see that I’m going to have six or seven weeks off pretty soon and it’s like `it’s the home stretch, just play some good golf and finish off the year’.

“I’ve got to figure that out and try to approach every tournament that way.”

Woodland, who lost to Moore in a playoff at this tournament 12 months earlier, threatened to reverse that result by firing six birdies without a bogey over the first 15 holes to move within a shot of Moore.

He had a birdie putt at 16 for a share of the lead that lipped out, and at 18 he had the chance for another birdie that would have upped the pressure on Moore, but missed it, and the close-range par putt.

“The par fives cost me all week,” Woodland said. “I played beautifully outside the par fives.”

Na birdied three of the first four holes to take a two-stroke lead and still led by a stroke after 12 before his round began to unravel.

A bogey on the 13th dropped him back into a share of the lead; at 14, a downhill eagle opportunity slid past the hole at pace and turned into a three-putt for par; and at 15 he missed a birdie putt, leaving him two shots behind.

With Moore taking a bogey at 16, Na looked like getting back a share of the lead with a birdie putt from two feet. Distracted by some cameras, he had to back off the putt, and missed it. After tapping in for par he waved his finger to the gallery in frustration.

Things went from bad to worse at 17 when he put his tee shot into the top of a palm tree. With the ball irretrievable, he took a penalty and returned to the tee, finishing with a double-bogey six that ended his challenge.

“It’s my fault hitting a bad putt and it’s hard to recover from that late in the day,” Na said. “I never got it together before I hit the next shot and you saw what happened.

“It’s disappointing when you know you had the lead and it’s yours, but Ryan did step it up in the end.”

Another palm tree proved Garcia’s undoing on the par-5 10th, also having to take a penalty and return to the tee and the double-bogey seven dropped him from two shots off the lead to four.

“After nine, I thought I had a chance because I finally got some things going after two or three lip-outs early in the round for birdie,” Garcia said. “But unfortunately that double bogey kind of stopped me.”

South Korea’s Bae Sang-moon (69) was tied for fifth with 21-year-old Australian Cameron Smith (68), who vaulted up from 13th to fourth on the Order of Merit in the Asian Tour, which co-sanctioned this event.

Canada’s Mike Weir finished at 7 under after a final round 68 to tie for 21st, his best finish in six months.

Last season’s FedEx Cup winner, Billy Horschel, finished at 4-under in joint 37th.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Defending champion Ryan Moore will draw on the experience of last year’s narrow victory when he enters the final round of the CIMB Classic on Sunday tied for the lead with Kevin Na.

Both Americans shot rounds of 5-under 67 on Saturday. Moore had seven birdies against two bogeys while Na had a bogey-free round with five birdies to move to 12-under 204 in the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour and Asian Tour event at Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club.

They were a shot clear of the field’s top-ranked player Sergio Garcia, who repeatedly scrambled from difficult situations to salvage pars on the back nine and finished with a round of 68.

Garcia was level on 11-under with second-round leader Billy Hurley III who had a 71 on a day that included a 2-1/2 hour rain delay.

They had a two-shot break on the next group of four players at 9-under: American trio Gary Woodland (66) – last year’s runner-up – Kevin Chappell (70) and Kevin Streelman (71) plus South Korea’s Sang-moon Bae (68).

Moore said last year’s playoff victory over Woodland gave him the belief that he can do it again Sunday and become the first player to defend a PGA Tour title since Tiger Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2012 and 2013.

“It can only be a positive,” Moore said. “I’ve been here and done it on this course, so that should give me that little extra confidence going into tomorrow.”

Na has one previous PGA Tour title win, at the Shriners’ International Hospitals for Children Open in 2011. He pulled out of that same event last month due to illness and a back injury, but has shown no sign of discomfort here.

He does have a previous tournament win in Malaysia on his resume, taking out the Volvo Masters of Asia as an 18-year-old in 2002. Na forecast that 17-under should be enough to win the tournament, but faces stiff competition in a tightly-packed field of leaders.

“Sergio, Ryan Moore, Kevin Streelman, Chappell – any of those guys can get out there and play well,” Na said. “You can’t set yourself an opponent, you have to play the golf course.”

Neither leader has a great record at defending leads on the final day. Moore has led or been tied for the lead five times previously, converting into wins twice while missing out three times, including the Travelers Championship earlier this year.

Na has been in that situation three times before and the Shriners’ was his sole victory.

Garcia has the edge on both for experience of title showdowns and kept himself in contention again with some impressive scrambling. The Spaniard repeatedly found trouble off the tee, twice having to take penalty strokes yet salvaging par.

“I’m not trying to hit shots like that but sometimes it happens,” Garcia said. “After the rain, the greens were much slower, and I three-putted on 11 for bogey and then I made some nice saves.”

The round of the day belonged to Brendon De Jonge, who had a 7-under 65 to move within four shots of the lead. The Zimbabwean lost the playoff at last week’s McGladrey Classic.

Former top-ranked Lee Westwood was hurt most by the rain delay. He was in contention at 9-under when the course was cleared for a thunderstorm, but had four bogeys in eight holes after the resumption.

Each of the first three days have had long delays due to storms, and more are expected Sunday, with a potentially critical effect on the title contenders.

“It’s tough on all of us, starting and stopping,” Moore said. “It’s like another round of golf. You are starting again and you don’t have that rhythm and momentum of your round.”

Mike Weir carded an even-par 72 Saturday to slip into a tie for 29th at 3-under 213.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Billy Hurley III made six birdies on his front nine en route to a 5-under 67 Friday that gave him a two-shot lead after the second round of the CIMB Classic.

Hurley matched his score from Thursday for a 10-under total of 134, two strokes ahead of American compatriot Kevin Streelman (68) in the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour and Asian Tour event.

A group of seven players was one stroke further back at 7 under, including defending champion Ryan Moore (69).

Hurley, a former U.S. Navy lieutenant who did active duty in the Persian Gulf from 2007-09, is chasing his first tour victory.

“If I can keep hitting it in the fairway and keep putting it like I have and hitting a lot of good putts, then I’ll be right there on Sunday,” Hurley said.

Hurley, who played bogey-free in the opening round, had a superb start with three birdies on his opening four holes, including two that played the toughest in the opening round: the par-3 11th over water and the long par-4 13th.

He then had three straight birdies from the 16th to make the turn in 30, but his bogey-free run came to an end on the second when he hit a wayward tee shot into the bushes and wound up with a double-bogey 6. He did not let the errant drive distract him, finishing his round with six pars and a birdie on No. 7. He said the ability to withstand bad moments like that and handle the pressure of being in contention is the main thing he learned from three top-10 finishes last year.

“After the bad swing it could have unraveled there on 2 and 3 but I drew on some of the experience I had from last year and was able to hold it together coming in,” Hurley said. “The cameras, more people watching the last group, couple of groups. It’s the atmosphere of it, and you learn a little bit from that.”

Also in the group of players three strokes back was the field’s top-ranked player, Sergio Garcia (68), and former top-ranked Lee Westwood, who recorded a hole-in-one en route to a 65 that moved him into contention for his second tournament win at this course in seven months.

Others on 7 under included Seung-yeul Noh (69), who like Westwood is a former winner of the Malaysian Open on this course, Kevin Na (68), Jeff Overton (69) and Kevin Chappell (68), who penalized himself a stroke for picking up the ball before marking it on the 16th fairway.

Streelman, who was runner-up in his previous event in Las Vegas this month, credited his improved form to a return to a putter he had put away for years.

“With putters, sometimes you pick it up and it just feels good,” Streelman said. “This is the best my short game has been.”

Westwood, who won the Malaysian Open on this course in April, aced the tough par-3 11th by covering the 226 yards into the wind, landing the ball short and to the right of the hole and watching it curl in.

“You need a bit of luck, but at the same time you have to hit it straight – it happens now and then,” Westwood said. “A 65 has got me right into the tournament.”

Noh is also relishing his return to the KLGCC, where he won the 2010 Malaysian Open at the age of 18.

“I feel very comfortable on this course, and I’m swinging I pretty well, plus I’m putting pretty well too,” Noh said. “I’m really excited for the weekend.”

Moore is seeking to become the first player to defend this title and would have had a share of second if not for a bogey at the last.

“It’s a position golf course. You can’t overpower it with length,” Moore said. “I’m not one of the longer guys, and it makes a lot of guys hit it where I normally hit it, so we play from a lot of the same spots.”

Canada’s Mike Weir carded a 4-under 68 Friday to get to 3-under 141 for the championship. He sits tied for 24th with four others, including opening-round leader Rikard Karlberg and Paul Casey.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Rikard Karlberg of Sweden birdied his last two holes for a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the CIMB Classic.

Karlberg also had five birdies on the front nine in a bogey-free round at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. After a round interrupted by a two-hour delay for thunderstorms, a trio of players were two shots back – Americans Billy Hurley III and Brian Stuard plus Angelo Que of the Philippines.

Karlberg, among the top 10 Asian Tour players who qualified for the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour event, said he benefited from a more relaxed approach after struggling with lingering viral infection that has affected his season.

“It gets you a little bit stressed out,” Karlberg said. “I just stopped almost enjoying the game. I was a little bit frustrated before the two last tournaments coming into this week.”

The Swede, who splits his time between the Asian and European Tours, is making only his third PGA Tour appearance after missing the cut twice in the U.S. Open.

“Just enjoy it and have fun out there made a big difference to me,” he said. “So I haven’t really thought about it as a big event.”

Eight players were tied a stroke further back, including defending champion Ryan Moore, who finished his round with four successive birdies.

Veteran Davis Love III sank an eagle at the 10th to also shoot a 68, along with American compatriots Kevin Streelman and Jeff Overton.

Sergio Garcia, the top-ranked player in the field, had four birdies on his outward nine en route to a 69 to sit tied for 13th with nine others.

Stuard had five birdies on his front nine – including four straight from the 14th after starting on the 10th – but also had two bogeys. His second nine was smoother with birdies on No. 1 and No. 8, putting him in position to turn around a poor stretch that has seen him miss the cut at his previous three tournaments.

“I’ve played a couple good rounds and then I’ll have a bad round, so I’m excited to play well to start with and hopefully I can keep it going,” Stuard said.

Que had six birdies on his first nine holes, benefiting from some superb approach play, and said greater trust in his shot selection had turned around his performance in recent weeks.

“I haven’t won in four years but I’m playing my best golf,” Que said.

Moore, who won last year’s event after a playoff, again made an impressive start after opening with a 63 in 2013.

“Early in the round it was a little up and down and I made some great par savers that kept myself in it,” Moore said. “I made a nice 20-25 footer to finish off – that putt was in the whole way – so it was nice hitting good putts like that and seeing them go in. That never hurts your confidence.”

Garcia was relatively content with his round despite several narrowly missed putts.

“It was one of those day where instead of lipping in, they seemed to lip out, and I probably had at least four or five putts that looked like they were going to go in and didn’t,” Garcia said.

Streelman was among several of the American players who struggled with the steamy conditions.

“Man, it really wipes you out,” Streelman said. “We’re not too used to his over in the U.S. and this is going to be a battle all weekend.”

Mike Weir opened with a 1-0ver 73 and was tied for 49th and is looking to make his first cut of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season after missing the cut at the Frys.com Open.

Graham DeLaet withdrew after bogeying the first hole, citing back problems.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Rikard Karlberg of Sweden birdied his last two holes for a 7-under 65 Thursday to take a two-shot lead after the opening round of the CIMB Classic.

Karlberg also had five birdies on the front nine in a bogey-free round at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club. After a round interrupted by a two-hour delay for thunderstorms, a trio of players were two shots back – Americans Billy Hurley III and Brian Stuard plus Angelo Que of the Philippines.

Karlberg, among the top 10 Asian Tour players who qualified for the jointly sanctioned PGA Tour event, said he benefited from a more relaxed approach after struggling with lingering viral infection that has affected his season.

“It gets you a little bit stressed out,” Karlberg said. “I just stopped almost enjoying the game. I was a little bit frustrated before the two last tournaments coming into this week.”

The Swede, who splits his time between the Asian and European Tours, is making only his third PGA Tour appearance after missing the cut twice in the U.S. Open.

“Just enjoy it and have fun out there made a big difference to me,” he said. “So I haven’t really thought about it as a big event.”

Eight players were tied a stroke further back, including defending champion Ryan Moore, who finished his round with four successive birdies.

Veteran Davis Love III sank an eagle at the 10th to also shoot a 68, along with American compatriots Kevin Streelman and Jeff Overton.

Sergio Garcia, the top-ranked player in the field, had four birdies on his outward nine en route to a 69 to sit tied for 13th with nine others.

Stuard had five birdies on his front nine – including four straight from the 14th after starting on the 10th – but also had two bogeys. His second nine was smoother with birdies on No. 1 and No. 8, putting him in position to turn around a poor stretch that has seen him miss the cut at his previous three tournaments.

“I’ve played a couple good rounds and then I’ll have a bad round, so I’m excited to play well to start with and hopefully I can keep it going,” Stuard said.

Que had six birdies on his first nine holes, benefiting from some superb approach play, and said greater trust in his shot selection had turned around his performance in recent weeks.

“I haven’t won in four years but I’m playing my best golf,” Que said.

Moore, who won last year’s event after a playoff, again made an impressive start after opening with a 63 in 2013.

“Early in the round it was a little up and down and I made some great par savers that kept myself in it,” Moore said. “I made a nice 20-25 footer to finish off – that putt was in the whole way – so it was nice hitting good putts like that and seeing them go in. That never hurts your confidence.”

Garcia was relatively content with his round despite several narrowly missed putts.

“It was one of those day where instead of lipping in, they seemed to lip out, and I probably had at least four or five putts that looked like they were going to go in and didn’t,” Garcia said.

Streelman was among several of the American players who struggled with the steamy conditions.

“Man, it really wipes you out,” Streelman said. “We’re not too used to his over in the U.S. and this is going to be a battle all weekend.”

Mike Weir opened with a 1-0ver 73 and was tied for 49th and is looking to make his first cut of the 2014-15 PGA Tour season after missing the cut at the Frys.com Open.

Graham DeLaet withdrew after bogeying the first hole, citing back problems.

KUALA LUMPUR – At age 50, Davis Love III doesn’t need much advice on how to approach golf tournaments. The tropical heat of Malaysia this week, and the expansion of the PGA Tour, will at least give him some new experiences and challenges.

Still on the comeback from neck surgery in 2013 that sapped the strength in his left arm, Love is ready to take on an international schedule and eager to get his game back to its best.

Two players familiar with the rigors of regularly crisscrossing the globe are Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, who are also in the field for the CIMB Classic starting Thursday in Kuala Lumpur, and they had some advice for Love and other PGA Tour players who are getting accustomed to playing more regularly outside of the United States.

No. 4 Garcia, the highest-ranked player in the field, is making his first appearance since the Ryder Cup and will play in a group with Europe teammate Westwood and American Patrick Reed, who were also part of the contest at Gleneagles last month.

As a player skipping between the PGA and European tours, Garcia said the key to handling the travel is enjoyment and rest.

“It’s just a matter of getting used to it and trying to take it with the best attitude possible,” Garcia said Wednesday. “The hardest thing is getting used to the jet lag and stuff like that.

“I go through stretches when I play but also through some stretches of maybe two, three or four weeks off like I just had, mainly because traveling is nice but it also takes energy out of you and sometimes you need to disconnect a little bit and recharge those batteries.”

Westwood won the Malaysian Open on the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club course in April, winning the co-sanctioned European Tour and Asian Tour event by six strokes. He shared some thoughts on how to approach the energy-sapping conditions in Southeast Asia.

“I don’t think there’s any real way to get over jet lag, certainly I can testify to it,” Westwood said. “I would imagine if you don’t travel much, then it comes as a bit of a shock with a 12-hour time change from the East Coast of America.

“It’s really important to stay fueled and well-hydrated first and foremost. You’re not to going to function if you get dehydrated out there and lose energy. Your brain is going to stop working.”

It’s all noted by Love, who plans to broaden his horizons.

Love is now eligible for the Champions Tour and plans on playing some tournaments on the 50-and-over circuit through the year, but the former U.S. Ryder Cup captain will concentrate principally on the PGA Tour to earn some FedEx Cup points and target tournaments where he does not get an exemption for his 20 tour victories.

“The British Open is the only real trip I’ve made,” Love said. “Now family and business will allow me to expand my horizons a little bit, so I’m going to try to play a little bit more all around the world, try to play in some of these events that I’m invited to.”

“At 50 years old, now I can start my world travels I guess.”

Doctors had told Love he will need another six to eight months to get back to his peak strength, but he is eager to get his game up to speed quickly and recapture the form that saw him win the PGA Championship and finish runner-up in three other majors during the late 1990s.

“I seriously want to play a lot of PGA Tour golf the next few years and see if I can get my game back,” Love said. “Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I know my time in the game will eventually fade away, but I want to take advantage of that for as long as I can and continue to compete.”

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Setting out to defend the FedExCup title in Malaysia this week, Billy Horschel is doing so as a changed man.

It’s not the fame, the money or the added pressure that has affected Horschel, but the arrival of his first child, who was born two days after he won the FedEx title.

“Golf isn’t what it used to be,” Horschel said Tuesday as he prepared for the CIMB Classic. “I used to think of golf as life or death. If I played bad, it showed, and I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around.

“With her, she doesn’t care if I play bad or good. She just cares that I’m there for her and I love her.”

The perspective on life may have changed, but one thing that hasn’t is Horschel’s determination to continue his success on the course, and that’s reflected in the tough goal he has set himself for the new season.

“I want to be the first guy to defend the FedExCup,” Horschel said. “No one has been able to do it. There’s only been one guy to win two FedExCups and that’s a guy by the name of Tiger Woods, he’s not too bad. But I want to be the first guy to defend the FedExCup. That would be an unbelievable thing to do.”

Horschel, who missed the cut in his opening event of the season at the Shriners’ Hospitals of Children Open, is part of a strong field at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club that includes Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Jason Dufner, Charl Schwartzel and defending champion Ryan Moore.

The PGA Tour event’s restricted 78-man field – there is no cut – is precisely half American and half international players, including the top 10 money winners from the Asian Tour.

Hideki Matsuyama, Ryo Ishikawa and Chinese teen prodigy Guan Tianlang are also among those vying for the $7 million in prize money, with the winner also receiving a place in the Masters and PGA Championship.

Dufner, the 2013 PGA Championship winner, is back from a neck injury and played in Australia last week.

“It was nice to get out and compete again, play some golf, see where I stand health-wise,” Dufner said. “Had some rust probably on my game and made quite a number of bogeys that I normally don’t make. But pretty good week for the most part, made a lot of birdies, and I did a lot of good things, so I’m encouraged going forward.”

While the new PGA Tour season is in its infancy, the Asian Tour is building toward its climax, with David Lipsky chasing a strong result in Malaysia as he seeks to hang on to his Order of Merit lead.

Nearest rival Anirban Lahiri of India won the prior event in Macau.

“Anirban is playing well but as long as I take care of business and do what I need to do, then everything should take care of itself,” Lipsky said. “I have a pretty sizable lead right now as it is. As long as I play well the rest of the year and do what I need to do, I’m pretty confident I can win.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -Robert Streb hasn’t seen many early indications of a happy ending throughout his career.

That included his first PGA Tour victory.

He started the McGladrey Classic with a tee shot he hooked into a bush, leading to a double bogey, and spent the next two days worried only about making the cut. Five shots behind going into the final round Sunday, he drove into a bunker on the opening hole and made bogey. Even after he made five birdies to get back in the mix, he three-putted the 13th for bogey to fall four shots behind with five holes to play.

“And at that point I was like, `Well, I’ll just see how many birdies I can try to make on the way in,'” Streb said. “And I got on a pretty nice little run.”

Streb ran off four straight birdies, closed with a 7-under 63, and then waited 90 minutes to see if it would hold up. He got into a three-way playoff at Sea Island with Brendon de Jonge and Will MacKenzie, and won on the second extra hole with the most significant shot of his young career.

He hit 8-iron at the par-3 17th that covered the flag and settled 4 feet behind the hole for his 10th birdie of the day.

“Very thrilled,” Streb said, mainly because winning had not sunk in.

The 27-year-old from Oklahoma has never played in a major. Now he’s going to the Masters in April, the PGA Championship next August, and the option to play events for only the top tier players, from Kapalua to Bay Hill to Memorial to Colonial.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Streb said. “I don’t have any emotions yet, but very thrilled.”

De Jonge had his best chance yet to win for the first time, and the only consolation was not having to look back at anything he did wrong. His lone regret was a pedestrian bunker shot on the par-5 15th and failing to make an 8-foot birdie putt. He closed with a 65. De Jonge hit his tee shot on the 17th in the playoff to about 30 feet left of the pin, though that became an even longer putt when Streb stuffed his 8-iron.

“What can you do? He hit a great shot,” de Jonge said. “And as I said, it’s nice for him to have a birdie. It’s a good way to win the tournament.”

MacKenzie, who started the final round tied for the lead, closed with a 68. He also failed to birdie the 15th that would have given him the outright lead, and then he was happy to just get into the playoff. He three-putted from 80 feet for bogey on the 16th to fall out of the lead. He answered with a 5-foot birdie on the 17th, and then he had to lag a putt from 80 just short of the 18th green to get into the playoff.

But it didn’t last long. MacKenzie found a bunker right of the 18th green on the first extra hole, blasted out to 30 feet and made bogey.

Streb had to made about a 4-footer for par in the playoff just to keep going. He was nervous over that putt, and the putt for the win. But he came through with a win that not even he would imagined when he walked off the 13th hole with a bogey.

It’s been like that his whole career.

Streb grew up at Oak Tree, though he had to leave home for college. Oklahoma didn’t have a scholarship to offer – Streb always wanted to be a Sooner. And he didn’t think he was good enough for Oklahoma State except to try to walk on.

Instead, he went to Kansas State. He met his wife, Maggie, who is expecting their first child (a girl) in February. He got his degree in marketing in case golf didn’t work out. And then he hit the minor leagues with great resolve.

Streb got to the PGA Tour after three years, and then narrowly lost his card. He failed to get it back for last season, though he took advantage of his limited starts by finishing second in New Orleans. Later in the season, he figured he was headed to the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs until Jason Day made a birdie on the last hole at the TPC Boston that bumped Streb out of the top 70.

He has been motivated to get better every step of the way.

“I guess it kind of keeps you hungry,” he said. “You’re obviously not going to achieve all your goals right from the get go. Well, at least I didn’t.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. -Robert Streb hasn’t seen many early indications of a happy ending throughout his career.

That included his first PGA Tour victory.

He started the McGladrey Classic with a tee shot he hooked into a bush, leading to a double bogey, and spent the next two days worried only about making the cut. Five shots behind going into the final round Sunday, he drove into a bunker on the opening hole and made bogey. Even after he made five birdies to get back in the mix, he three-putted the 13th for bogey to fall four shots behind with five holes to play.

“And at that point I was like, `Well, I’ll just see how many birdies I can try to make on the way in,'” Streb said. “And I got on a pretty nice little run.”

Streb ran off four straight birdies, closed with a 7-under 63, and then waited 90 minutes to see if it would hold up. He got into a three-way playoff at Sea Island with Brendon de Jonge and Will MacKenzie, and won on the second extra hole with the most significant shot of his young career.

He hit 8-iron at the par-3 17th that covered the flag and settled 4 feet behind the hole for his 10th birdie of the day.

“Very thrilled,” Streb said, mainly because winning had not sunk in.

The 27-year-old from Oklahoma has never played in a major. Now he’s going to the Masters in April, the PGA Championship next August, and the option to play events for only the top tier players, from Kapalua to Bay Hill to Memorial to Colonial.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Streb said. “I don’t have any emotions yet, but very thrilled.”

De Jonge had his best chance yet to win for the first time, and the only consolation was not having to look back at anything he did wrong. His lone regret was a pedestrian bunker shot on the par-5 15th and failing to make an 8-foot birdie putt. He closed with a 65. De Jonge hit his tee shot on the 17th in the playoff to about 30 feet left of the pin, though that became an even longer putt when Streb stuffed his 8-iron.

“What can you do? He hit a great shot,” de Jonge said. “And as I said, it’s nice for him to have a birdie. It’s a good way to win the tournament.”

MacKenzie, who started the final round tied for the lead, closed with a 68. He also failed to birdie the 15th that would have given him the outright lead, and then he was happy to just get into the playoff. He three-putted from 80 feet for bogey on the 16th to fall out of the lead. He answered with a 5-foot birdie on the 17th, and then he had to lag a putt from 80 just short of the 18th green to get into the playoff.

But it didn’t last long. MacKenzie found a bunker right of the 18th green on the first extra hole, blasted out to 30 feet and made bogey.

Streb had to made about a 4-footer for par in the playoff just to keep going. He was nervous over that putt, and the putt for the win. But he came through with a win that not even he would imagined when he walked off the 13th hole with a bogey.

It’s been like that his whole career.

Streb grew up at Oak Tree, though he had to leave home for college. Oklahoma didn’t have a scholarship to offer – Streb always wanted to be a Sooner. And he didn’t think he was good enough for Oklahoma State except to try to walk on.

Instead, he went to Kansas State. He met his wife, Maggie, who is expecting their first child (a girl) in February. He got his degree in marketing in case golf didn’t work out. And then he hit the minor leagues with great resolve.

Streb got to the PGA Tour after three years, and then narrowly lost his card. He failed to get it back for last season, though he took advantage of his limited starts by finishing second in New Orleans. Later in the season, he figured he was headed to the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs until Jason Day made a birdie on the last hole at the TPC Boston that bumped Streb out of the top 70.

He has been motivated to get better every step of the way.

“I guess it kind of keeps you hungry,” he said. “You’re obviously not going to achieve all your goals right from the get go. Well, at least I didn’t.”

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – Will MacKenzie figured a good shot had turned out badly.

His 8-iron on the par-3 sixth hole Saturday in the McGladrey Classic headed for the flag, and he could hear it strike the pin. If the four people around the green were clapping, he couldn’t hear them. MacKenzie simply walked back to his bag and handed his club to the caddie.

“I figured it had ricocheted off,” MacKenzie said.

Except that he couldn’t find the ball anywhere on or around the green. The mystery was solved when one of the four men indicated it was in the hole.

“Most anti-climactic hole-in-one I ever had,” he said.

That shot, along with a 45-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole at Sea Island, carried golf’s free spirit to a 5-under 65 and a share of the lead with Andrew Svoboda going into the final round. Svoboda rallied from a careless double bogey by making three birdies on the last six holes for a 66.

They were at 12-under 198.

As aces go, this was a strange one for MacKenzie.

“It was just the most boring hole-in-one ever,” he said.

Russell Henley, the 36-hole leader, was one shot behind after another solid day, except for one shot. He pulled his approach into the water on the par-5 15th hole and made bogey on the easiest hole on the Seaside course. Henley had a 68.

Stewart Cink, winless since beating Tom Watson in a playoff at Turnberry five years ago, made eight birdies in his round of 63. Defending champion Chris Kirk is progressively getting better with rounds of 68-67-66. They were part of a large group at 201, just three shots behind.

Nine players were within four shots of the lead.

Four players had at least a share of the lead at one point. Henley fell back with his bogey on the 15th. Fabian Gomez of Argentina was tied for the lead until he stumbled at the finish. He three-putted from 30 feet on the 16th and from 40 feet on the 17th, and then failed to get up-and-down from short of the 18th. He shot 68 and was in the group three shots out of the lead.

Henley and Kirk are playing for the first time since the Tour Championship on Sept. 14. Neither was sure what to expect this week, and even though Henley didn’t finish as strong as he would like, he was happy with where he was.

So was Kirk, who had five birdies and an eagle to counter his mistakes.

Kirk holed out with a sand wedge from 115 yards on the eighth hole, only to bogey the next two holes. He finished strong and still had a chance to defend his title.

“I’ve managed to put three pretty solid rounds together, and hopefully I can give them a little bit of a run tomorrow,” Kirk said.

MacKenzie also had his moments. He didn’t take the lead until a birdie on the 16th hole, only to lose focus on the next hole. He hit 5-iron, which was way too much club for the par-3 17th, and he was lucky to at least have a shot out of the wire grass. He chopped that over the green, got the next shot down to 7 feet and holed that for a bogey.

And to cap it off, he made a long birdie across the 18th green to catch Svoboda, who had to save par with a tough chip from the right side of the green.

“I was a little jumpy,” MacKenzie said. “So it was huge to make that bomb.”

Even so, it was the ace that left him shaking his head. MacKenzie said he now has three aces on the PGA Tour, though nothing stranger than his hole-in-one Saturday – mainly because he had no idea where the ball wound up.

“Finally, there was this random guy over there, like one of the four guys clapping earlier,” he said. “They were like, `Yeah, it went in. Didn’t you hear us clap?’ I was like, `Thanks, man. You guys are low-key here.’ They’re used to seeing great shots. They’re used to your Matt Kuchars and the guys, studs. I made a hole-in-one. It means nothing other than it was a 1 on the scorecard.”

But it put him into the last group Sunday with a chance to win a PGA Tour event for the first time since MacKenzie won the Viking Classic six years ago.

The 54-hole cut was at 1-under 209, and it eliminated 17 players.  Canadians Adam Hadwin (73) and Nick Taylor (75) failed to advance to the final round because more more than 78 golfers advanced past the 36 hole cut.

Among those making it to Sunday was tournament host Davis Love III, who shot 70.