Enloe wins Fort Smith Classic in playoff

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FORT SMITH, Ark. -- Jason Enloe calmly sank a two-foot par putt on the first hole of a playoff hole to beat Chris Tidland and win the Fort Smith Classic, his second career Nationwide Tour win. Both players finished at 15-under-par 265 at the Hardscrabble Country Club. Enloe carded a final-round 5-under 65 to chase down Tidland, the 54-hole leader who posted a 2-under 68 to force the fourth playoff in the tournament's 12-year history.

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Jason Enloe

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Wil Collins (64), Brian Smock (66), Justin Bolli (67) and Gavin Coles (67) tied for third place, one shot back at 14-under. Josh Broadaway (64) was alone in seventh place, two back of the winning totals.

"I played awesome today," said Enloe, who hit 12 of 13 fairways and 14 of 18 greens. "I played great tee to green, I putted well and I hit a few good chips that kept me going. It feels pretty good when you need to play well and you do. I'm surprised I won. I hadn't been in contention in a while. I hadn't gotten any really low scores out of my rounds this year but I've been telling people I was really close to playing well."

The victory was worth $99,000 for Enloe, who moved from No. 117 to No. 14 on the money list. Tidland collected a runner-up check for $59,400 to climb his way to No. 5 on the money rankings. The 25 leading money winners at the end of the year will earn their PGA TOUR cards for the 2010 season.

By the time Tidland bogeyed the opening hole to drop to minus-12, several players had already made birdies to reach that number and the chase was on.

"You can play a little more aggressively when you're behind," said Enloe. "It's easier to come back than to hold on, especially when there are that many guys."

A playoff seemed a foregone conclusion as the leaderboard tightened up under a sweltering summer sun that pushed the temperature to 95 degrees.

"There were a lot of great players out there today shooting a lot of good scores," said Enloe. "I saw there was some scoring out there. Jonas Blixt shot like 61 or something. When I saw that I figured I needed to get to 15- or 16-under par."

Several challenged for the lead but it was Enloe who stepped up late in the day with a birdie at No. 15 and be the first to reach 15-under par. An eight-foot par-saving putt at 16 kept him at the top with Tidland, who made his last birdie of the day at No. 14 to also reach 15-under. Collins, Smock and Coles all failed down the stretch to join them in the overtime session.

Tidland made a crucial par-save at the closing hole, rolling in an eight-footer to keep Enloe from the outright win.

As the pair played the 437-yard, uphill 18th, Tidland pushed his second shot into right fringe, some 60 feet from the pin. Enloe's 8-iron from 168 yards was pin high, 25 feet away. Tidland then rolled his long-range putt eight feet by the cup.

"I was trying to make him make it," admitted Enloe, who is good friends with Tidland. "I wanted a comfortable putt and I lagged mine up there. He hit a good second putt that just lipped out."

That left the stage to Enloe, who made it official.

"It was exciting," said the winner. "I watched the leaderboard most of the day. I know there was a lot of movement and I knew I was close. It made for an exciting tournament."

Fourth-Round Notes

• Jason Enloe and 2008 champion Colt Knost both attended Southern Methodist University, both currently live in Dallas, Tex., and both call Royal Oaks Country Club home.

• Sweden's Jonas Blixt fired a 9-under 61 and moved way up the leaderboard. The rookie from Florida State began the day tied for 56th place and vaulted all the way up a tie for 12th. Blixt had eight birdies and an eagle during the final round. He had an uneven week, posting scores of 70-66-74-61 for a 9-under 271 total.

• Alex Prugh, winner of the Michael Hill New Zealand Open, ran off a string of seven birdies in an eight-hole stretch starting at No. 9. Prugh was 2-over for the first eight holes before getting hot. Prugh shot a 5-under 65 and tied for eighth.

• Josh Broadaway fired a bogey-free 64 on Sunday, which tied his career-best round on Tour. Broadaway matched an 8-under 64 at the 2008 Price Cutter Charity Championship, which also came in the final round.

* The Tour heads to Bridgeport, WV, for the Nationwide Tour Players Cup, to be played June 25-28 at the Pete Dye Golf Club.