D.J. Trahan wins Southern Farm playoff for first PGA Tour title

MADISON, Miss. (AP) _ D.J. Trahan was more interested in resting than celebrating after picking up his first PGA Tour victory. <br/><br/>Understandable, since Trahan was playing in his 65th tournament

Monday, October 2nd 2006, 8:41 am

By: News On 6

MADISON, Miss. (AP) _ D.J. Trahan was more interested in resting than celebrating after picking up his first PGA Tour victory.

Understandable, since Trahan was playing in his 65th tournament in the past two years and needed to go three extra holes to wrap up the win.

``I'm going to relax,'' Trahan said after birdieing the par-5 18th three straight times in sudden death to beat Joe Durant. ``I feel like I can relax for the first time all year, and that is going to feel great.''

Trahan won with a 5-foot putt on the third extra hole after closing with a 1-under 71 to match Durant (66) at 13-under 275 on the Annandale Golf Club course. Trahan holed the winning putt after Durant missed a 5-footer of his own.

``D.J. played great,'' Durant said. ``He hit the shots he needed to hit down the stretch and then in the playoff he played fantastic. He made the putt when he needed to, and I didn't.''

Trahan, the second-year tour player who led after each of the first three rounds, earned $540,000 and a two-year PGA Tour exemption. He entered the week 142nd on the money list with $474,242.

The 25-year-old former Clemson star started play Sunday with a two-stroke lead, and offset two bogeys on the front nine with an eagle on No. 5.

Then, after spending most of the day dueling with third-place finisher Lee Janzen, Trahan saw Durant slip into the mix. Durant, who shot a 74 on Saturday, shook off two bogeys with eight birdies, the last two on Nos. 16 and 18.

``My wife gave me a little pep talk last night and said, 'You're still in 6th place, just go out and shoot a good round,''' Durant said. ``And in the back of my mind I thought, 'if I could just go out and shoot a 65, I could win this thing.'''

Trahan is the second player to win the tournament wire-to-wire and the first to do so to win his first tour title since Tim Herron in the 1996 Honda Classic.

Janzen, a two-time U.S. Open winner, closed with a 70.

He's playing on a one-time tour exemption based on his position in the top 50 on the career money list. He finished out of the top 125 last year for the first time since joining the tour in 1990 and with four events left is in danger of missing it again this year. That would cost him his exemption, meaning he would have to return to qualifying school or rely on sponsor's exemptions.

After missing 15 cuts in 23 tournaments, the 42-year-old Janzen entered the week 202nd on the money list with $142,842. His $204,000 payday moved him to 168th.

Janzen stayed near the top all day, making it a three-way tie on No. 12, only to be done in by a bogey on 17 when he went into the water.

Still Janzen, who has been working to change his swing, said it was a good tournament for him.

``I had a lot more peace on the golf course this week because I wasn't worried about my position anymore on the money list, or was I going to keep my card, or what I had to do to keep my card,'' Janzen said. ``I totally forgot about all of that. My main goal out there was to execute one shot at a time.''

J.P. Hayes (68) finished fourth at 11 under.