CROMWELL, Conn. — Bubba Watson made an 8-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a playoff Sunday to outlast Paul Casey and win the Travelers Championship for the second time.

Casey overcame a three-stroke deficit with five to play, tying Watson at 16-under 264 in light rain at TPC River Highlands.

But the 37-year-old Englishman playing the tournament for the first time, lost his chance at the title while playing the par-4 18th for the third time when his third shot from a greenside bunker flew over the green and landed on the cart path.

Watson hit his 160-yard approach just to the right of the hole to set up his winning putt.

“I hung on, and that’s what you have to do sometimes to win,” Watson said.

Watson had a chance to win in regulation. But the two-time Masters champion bogeyed the 17th, while Casey closed with three birdies on the final five holes, sandwiched around a bogey on 15.

Casey watched in the scoring trailer with 9-month-old son Lex on his lap as Watson made a 31/2-foot par putt to force the playoff.

Watson finished with a 67, and Casey shot 65.

“There are always ifs and buts and could haves,” Casey said. “But the goal was to give myself a chance to win, and I did that.”

Watson has eight PGA Tour titles, also winning a playoff in the WGC-HSBC Champions in China in November at the start of the season. He won the Travelers in 2010 in a three-way playoff for his first win on the PGA Tour and is 5-1 in playoffs.

“It’s just about staying calm,” he said. “That’s what you have to do, you just breathe and walk slower, take some deep breaths and focus on the fact that no matter what you still come in second place.”

This was the sixth time since 2004 the tournament has been decided in a playoff.

Brian Harman, who had a one-stroke lead after 54 holes, had a 69 to finish a stroke out of the playoff. After 39 straight holes without a bogey, he had back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 9 and 10 to fall two strokes behind Watson. His birdies on the final two holes were not enough to catch Casey and Watson.

But the finish assured the 28-year-old from Georgia a spot in the British Open, along with Canadian Graham DeLaet, who finished two shots back, Carl Pettersson who finished fifth at 13 under, and Luke Donald, who tied for seventh at 11 under. Sixth-place finisher Zach Johnson already had an exemption into the field.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Jeff Maggert won the U.S. Senior Open for his second major victory on the tour this year, in Sacramento, California.

Maggert shot a 5-under 65 at sun-drenched Del Paso Country Club, edging defending champion Colin Montgomerie by two strokes. Maggert made six birdies and one bogey to finish at 10-under 270.

The 51-year-old American won his first senior major last month in Alabama in the Regions Tradition. His only other Champions Tour victory came in Mississippi last year in his first start on the 50-and-over circuit.

Montgomerie closed with a 66. Grant Waite and Bernhard Langer tied for third at 7 under. Waite had a 67, and Langer, who shared the lead with Maggert after three rounds, shot a 68.

LPGA TOUR: Na Yeon Choi eagled the par-4 16th hole from the fairway to take the lead and won the NW Arkansas Championship by two strokes for her ninth tour title, in Rogers, Arkansas.

Choi closed with a 2-under 69 to finish at 15-under 198.

Choi’s 8-iron from 142 yards on the 16th one-hopped into the hole to give her a one-shot lead over Stacy Lewis, the defending champion and local favorite. The South Korean player followed with another 8-iron to within a foot on the par-3 17th, and closed with a par. Choi also won the season-opening Coates Golf Championship in Florida.

Mika Miyazato finished second at 13 under after a 67. Lewis bogeyed the par-5 18th for a 68 that left her tied for third with Anna Nordqvist and Azahara Munoz at 12 under.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Pablo Larrazabal won the BMW International Open by one shot in Munich for his fourth European Tour title.

The Spaniard, who also won the tournament in 2011, closed with a bogey-free 6-under 66 to finish with a 17-under 271 on the Eichenried Golf Club course.

“Every title is very special, but this place, there’s something here that suits my eye. From the tee to the greens, I just love this place,” Larrazabal said.

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson shot five birdies and an eagle for a 65 but finished a stroke back after Larrazabal seized the lead with his sixth birdie on the par-4 16th hole.

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