The Daily Wrap-up: Round 4, U.S. Bank Championship
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Bo Van Pelt started laughing just before his final putt.
He thought back to all those times on his couch with his golfing buddies watching a pro fail in the clutch with a seemingly easy opportunity. Now, he'd left a second putt a little too far for comfort.
"Twenty feet, two putts to win, I'd get that done no problem, like that'd be the easiest thing," Van Pelt said. "Sure enough, that's what I had and, sure enough, I leave it 3 feet short."
Turns out, it was just the right distance.
Van Pelt won for the first time on the PGA TOUR in 229 starts with a 3-foot birdie on the second hole of a sudden death playoff over John Mallinger on Sunday at the U.S. Bank Championship and put 10 years of frustration behind him.
"It got to the point where I don't even know if I wanted to play anymore a couple of years ago," Van Pelt said. "Because I felt like I kept putting myself in these positions, and it wasn't ever happening. It was definitely frustrating."
On the second playoff hole, the 29-year-old Mallinger rolled his second shot in a greenside bunker. Mallinger got out, but left himself a 28-footer for birdie that he pushed right of the hole and settled for par.
That would be plenty for Van Pelt, who had a chance on the first hole -- also No. 18 -- to end it but looked nervous and missed a 13-foot eagle putt. He settled for a tap-in birdie on this week's Kodak Challenge hole to put the pressure on Mallinger, who made a 5-footer setting up the final scramble.
"As soon as you make a putt, you kind of get some momentum," Mallinger said. "Bo made two great shots on 18 in the playoffs."
Van Pelt is a towering presence at 6 feet 4, but he was a late bloomer in high school and never followed his father's footsteps. Bob Van Pelt was drafted as a center in the fifth round in 1967 by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Instead, the younger Van Pelt gets 250 FedExCup points and the satisfaction that he's finally won on TOUR after finishing no better than second at the 2008 Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popluar that sent his career in a tailspin.
"I had my worst year on TOUR in a while last year, and I lost in Puerto Rico by a shot and really had the lead the whole way and really should've won the golf tournament," he said. "I think that bothered me for a long time last year because it just felt like I was playing so good, and I was playing so good every time I went out, and I still wasn't getting it done."
This time, the 34-year-old Van Pelt shot a 64 in the final round and did not have a bogey to move from 7 under to 13 under, finishing with a 4-foot putt for birdie on No. 18. Then he had to wait and watch the scoreboard. Van Pelt went to the driving range with his caddie alone, and as each group came in, a few more onlookers joined him.
Mallinger, who was also looking for his first TOUR title, shot a 65 on Sunday and used an eagle on the par-5 15th to vault among the leaders. He also needed a short birdie putt on No. 18 to send the tournament to a playoff for the first time since 2001.
"I'll take a lot of positives out of this, I'm just a little disappointed right now," Mallinger said. "I felt like I was in the driver's seat coming in after I made eagle on 15 and birdie on 16."
| Other notables at the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5 18th hole was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.361.
The par-4 10th hole was the toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.181.
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John Mallinger drills his approach shot on the 15th, then cleans up with an eagle during the final round of the 2009 US Bank Championship. 
We have a tie; Tim Petrovic and Spencer Levin both shot flawless, bogey-free 7-under 63s to tie for seventh in Milwaukee. FOURTH-ROUND NOTEBOOK
By Mark Stevens, PGA TOUR Staff
• Bo Van Pelt picked up his first PGA TOUR victory in his 229th start over John Mallinger in a two-hole playoff at the U.S. Bank Championship.• The cut at 1-over-par was the highest cut at the U.S. Bank Championship since an identical cut in 2004.
• Van Pelt moves from 70th to 40th in the FedExCup standings, while Mallinger moves from 45th to 34th. Steve Stricker, based on his T52 at the British Open takes over the FedExCup lead over Tiger Woods by eight points.
• Van Pelt won in his eighth start at the U.S. Bank Championship. Prior to his win, his best finish in Milwaukee was T7 in 2004.
• Prior to his win, Van Pelt had one career second-place finish and two third-place finishes on TOUR. Van Pelt's second-place finish came at the 2008 Puerto Rico Open presented by Banco Popular.
• Van Pelt's 64 was his second-best career score in the final round. He recorded a 63 in the final round of the 2002 U.S. Bank Championship to finish T27. He also had a 64 at the 2007 Travelers Championship to finish T6.
• To read more of the third-round notebook, click here.
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