Irwin had a chance to win on the final hole of regulation, but his 11-foot birdie putt — struck precisely where he wanted — spun out of the cup to create the playoff. Irwin hit himself in the head with his putter, knocking his hat off, and stared incredulously.

Earlier, McCord's birdie putt had come up short when "it just dug into the grain." They went back to the par-5 18th and McCord, trying to crush his drive to give himself the opportunity to go for the green in two, instead twisted his shot into the rough.

He laid up, hit his sand wedge to 12 feet and pulled the birdie putt way left, laughing out loud. "I thought it would go right," McCord said, laughing again. "It whupped to the left. Turned its blinker on and was gone."

Irwin, given yet another chance to win, drained this 11-footer. It was his 10th one-putt green of the day.

"The first one looked just like a right-edge putt and I hit it right there," Irwin said of his miss. "It sure felt good and I liked it when I saw it. The second one was a little less break and I played it inside the hole and the only thing I had in mind was to hit it hard enough to get there."

He did and so did the ball, finally ending McCord's intriguing challenge — and Turtle Bay's. "It took everything we could shoot at it ...," Irwin said. "This is one of the best courses we play all year."

After birdying the seventh, eighth and ninth to tie Irwin, McCord matched him par for par across the back nine. McCord stabilized himself against the wind by going low —Êtaking his 45-inch "belly putter" out of the bag and replacing it with a standard model. He hit enough good putts to win his first tournament since 1999 — except for the fact he couldn't hit his approach shots close and he was up against a guy no one has figured how to beat.

"On the back nine it was hard to get the ball close out there with the wind blowing that way," McCord said. "So we just kept on going back and forth. Both of us looked conservative. I haven't played good in a while so I'm just trying to play middle of the green, not make mistakes. I couldn't get out of that and flush one to get it close."

The CBS golf analyst, and author of "Golf for Dummies" I and II, left paradise with two bogeys in three days and his second runner-up finish this season. It was enough to bump him into the top 30 for the year and the Tour Championship, which was his last victory.

One bad bounce on the final hole killed Dick Mast's chance for his first victory and exempt status in 2003. He was the only golfer to get to 9-under, but three-putted for bogey on Nos. 13 and 14 to fall a shot back of Irwin and McCord. Trying to reach the 18th green in two shots, and give himself an eagle putt for victory, he hit what he thought was the perfect shot. It bounced off a rock just past the water hazard and careened right, past the scoreboard and into the bushes.

Mast managed to punch the ball to the green, but missed the 20-foot birdie putt that would have put him into the playoff.

"I was a little nervy, maybe," Mast admitted. "But I had a chance and I'm happy. I hit that second shot (on 18) like I thought I should and a gust of wind did something. I had plenty of club."

He fell into a tie for third with John Bland, who parred his last 12 holes, and Mike Smith, who birdied his last.

Hilo's Steve Veriato surged into a tie for sixth with an eagle on the final hole. Veriato blasted his approach shot 248 yards, to within 15 feet of the hole, and won $54,000 with his best finish of the year. He moved up from 66th on the money list to 59th, with $273,725. Veriato has finished in the top 10 twice in his last three starts.