Kevin Kisner chipped in for an eagle on the 18th hole, forcing a playoff just before darkness suspended play Sunday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans at TPC Louisiana in Avondale.
Americans Kisner and Scott Brown erased a four-stroke deficit by matching the best round of the week with a sizzling 12-under-par 60 on the final round in a four-ball (best ball) format. They matched the tandem of Jonas Blixt and Cameron Smith at 27-under 261.
Kisner and Brown will face Blixt and Smith in a sudden-death playoff on Monday beginning at 8 a.m. It will be played under a Four-Ball format.
The international pairing of Blixt (Sweden) and Smith (Australia), who held the four-shot lead after 54 holes, were unable to hold off the charging Americans despite shooting an 8-under 64 Sunday. Blixt and Smith are the only team not to record a bogey in the tournament.
Kisner and Brown, tied for second with Charley Hoffman-Nick Watney at the start of the day, tore up the course, rattling off eight straight birdies to open the round en route to a 28 on the front nine. The American duo added birdies at Nos. 10 and 11 to move to 10 under for the day but parred the next six holes, setting the stage for Kisner's heroics, when he holed out his chip shot from 94 1/2 feet.
"Well, we knew we had to have it," Kisner said. "All I was trying to do was make sure I didn't leave it short, and I couldn't see much. I knew it was breaking a little right, and when it hit the flag, I said, 'Don't you come out of there.' ... "I knew I was going to make it the whole time. No, I'm just kidding." Asked where the shot ranks with the best of his career, Kisner said, "It would be in the top three. I don't know, man. It's too much to think about right now."
Blixt said of the comeback by Kisner and Brown, "(Smith and I) were confident about our two games the whole week, so I wasn't really stressed out about it. Someone had to get hot in order to catch us today, and they did. That's it."
Play was suspended earlier in the day for nearly 6 1/2 hours due to severe thunderstorms, necessitating the need for Monday's playoff. Americans Kelly Kraft and Kevin Tway carded a 61 on Sunday to finish alone in third place at 265, one stroke ahead of the high-profile pairing of Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer, who claimed sole possession of fourth place following a 64.
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