Savannah, GA – Jim Colbert and Bob Murphy birdied the first playoff hole on Tuesday to defeat Frank Beard and Larry Ziegler and win the Demaret Division portion of the Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf.
Colbert and Murphy added a 63 to their opening-round 66 to tie Beard and Ziegler, who carded rounds of 64 and 65, at 15-under 129 through 36 holes of the two-man, better-ball competition.
"When we started the day I thought we'd need 15-under to win, but Jim walked over and said probably 16-under. Boy were we close," said Murphy, an 11-time Champions Tour winner.
Colbert and Murphy birdied five holes during their inward nine, turning the trick in succession at Nos. 17 and 18 to reach the playoff. There, Murphy dropped his approach three feet from the cup on the first extra hole and drained the birdie putt to dispatch Beard and Ziegler, who lost in a playoff last year to J.C. Snead and Gibby Gilbert in the Demaret Division.
"It was great today how we finished by making birdies on seven of the last 11 holes and that was just to get us into a tie," said Colbert, who won Legends Division titles with Andy North at this event in 2000 and 2001. "Then my pal (Murphy) birdied the first playoff hole to get the win for us."
Lee Trevino and Mike Hill finished one stroke shy of the playoff in third, while Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player tied for seventh at 9-under.
The victory earned Colbert and Murphy $60,000 each, while Beard and Ziegler each took home $34,000.
The Demaret Division is reserved for players who are at least 70 years old.
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