Irving, Texas — Mark Hensby parried a fourth-place tiebreaker after Charlie Wee hit a close quarters out of the water Sunday to win the Celebrity Invitational Classic, his first career PGA Tour Champions win.
The 51-year-old Australian closed with a 1-under 70 at Las Colinas, putting Birdie on par-5 and 18th in regulation to match Wi at 12-under 201 through 54 holes.
In the playoff, Hensby was up and down to make par on the 18th after his approach came off the green and he returned to the water. The pair exchanged pars again on the 18th and on the 17th par 3 before the 18th played a third over, and this time Wi found water.
Hensby hit a wedge at 10 feet and put two out for the win, his first since his victory over Henrik Stenson in a playoff at the 2005 Scandinavian Masters on the European Tour.
“Of course it’s nice to win this Tour,” Hensby said. “I think when you win anywhere these days, it’s an achievement.”
Hensby has six professional victories, five of them in the playoffs, including his only PGA Tour win at the John Deere Classic in 2004.
The 51-year-old Wi, who entered the field as an alternate, was 5-12-hole, dropped 4 shots in the next four, then closed with two straights shooting 68 and 12-under.
“I got five seconds on the PGA Tour, so I really wanted to win,” Wei said. “It’s a bit disappointing at the moment, and also, not having the prestige, the win was… sorting out a lot of things with my schedule and knowing what to do. But this Tour is very difficult to be in and there are a lot of good players, I’m glad I played really hard this week.”
Second round leader Alex Sigka closed out with 72 and hit one shot. Richard Green and Jerry Kelly tied for fourth at 10-under.