PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Bob Sowards of Dublin, Ohio, birdied the second extra hole Feb. 12, to win the 49th PGA Match Play Championship and get a measure of revenge from his opponent in the finals, Danny Balin, of Rockville, Md.

In a tight, well played match on the Dye Course at PGA Golf Club, neither player led by more than one hole. Sowards, PGA teaching professional at New Albany Country Club in suburban Columbus, Ohio, was 6-under-par for 20 holes. Balin, PGA assistant at Burning Tree in Greenwich, Conn., was 5-under.

The match ended when Sowards hit 5-wood to within 18 inches at the par-3 16th hole, the second of the playoff, for a conceded birdie. Balin was short of the green off the tee and his chip rolled well past the hole. "I hit the same club at 16 the first time but it went too far," Sowards said. "In the playoff, I tried to get it up in the air more. It worked out perfectly."

"He got me last week and I got him this week," Sowards said, matter-of-factly. "It was a great match. Neither one of us led by more than one hole all afternoon." Indeed, Sowards was six-under par for 20 holes, Balin at five-under.

It was Sowards' second 20-hole match of the Championship, following a tight victory over Brian Cairns of Walled Lake, Mich., in the second round. There were only four extra-hole matches all week, none more than 20 holes.

"Finishing second in the Southern Ohio PGA Section Championship last year kept me from winning the national player of the year again," said Sowards, an honor earned by David Hutsell of Lutherville, Md.

"I'm playing the best golf of my life right now," he added. "But before I decide whether or not to try again, I'll have to go home and talk to my wife, Lynn. We have a daughter, Jordan, 9. It makes a bigger difference now, being away from home as much as you are when you're playing the tour.

"I know if I do, I'm going to have to drop about 30 pounds and get stronger and more flexible."

Balin, 29, says he'll keep trying "as long as my job allows it." He is a 2004 graduate of the PGA Golf Management University Program at Penn State University.

In the semifinals earlier on Feb. 11, Sowards beat Sam Kang of Rockaway, N.J., 2-up, coming from two holes down at the turn, and Balin never trailed in a 3 and 1 victory over Ryan Garrity of Jupiter. Garrity had never been behind in his first four matches this week.

Sowards received $4,000 from the $25,625 purse. Balin collected $2,125. Kang and Garrity received $1,280 apiece.

In the PGA Stroke Play Championship (Jan. 30-Feb. 2) on the adjacent Wanamaker Course, Sowards led for three days but shot 73 the last day for 279 as Balin won with a closing round of 67 for 276. "He got me last week and I got him this week," Sowards noted. "That's the way golf goes sometimes." Sowards won the Match Play in 2005, the Stroke Play in 2005, '06, and was the PGA Professional of the Year in 2003, '04 and '05.

The PGA Match Play Championship was the last of six events, which comprised the The PGA of America's 59th PGA Winter Championships. The presenting sponsors were Hospital for Special Surgery, Premier Golf and United Rentals with DryRainge, Golf Pride and Jacobsen serving as supporting sponsors.

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