OPELIKA, Ala. — Aaron Baddeley left no doubt how much his first victory in 51/2 years meant to him.

The Australian made a 24-foot putt on the fourth hole of a playoff with Si Woo Kim to win the Barbasol Championship on Sunday at Grand National. Then Baddeley broke into a celebratory dance off the green, tossed his club in the air and flung his cap back onto the green after his fourth PGA Tour victory.

“I think you could tell by my reaction how much it meant to me,” he said.

Baddeley secured a two-year exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship, but not the Masters.

Both Baddeley and Kim parred the first three holes of the playoff, two on 18 and the third on 17.

Kim parred 18 again after Baddeley had already clinched his first win since the 2011 Northern Trust Open. He said at times doubts crept in about whether he’d win again, calling last year the worst of his career. His 10th-place finish at the Barbasol Championship was his best result in 2015.

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“It’s been a long time between drinks,” the Australian said. “I had some real struggles.”

Baddeley finished with a 5-under 66 to match Kim at 18-under 266. He was 11 strokes off the lead at the midpoint.

Kim shot a 63, closing with a bogey. On the fourth playoff hole, the 21-year-old South Korean sent his approach down a slope into the rough between two grandstands. He chipped to 5 feet, but Baddeley closed it out before Woo finished.

The weather turned steamy after a light drizzle on the final regulation holes.

Former Auburn University player Michael Johnson finished a stroke back after a 65 in his first professional tournament, a few miles from campus. He just missed a potential birdie putt on his final hole.

LPGA: Lydia Ko outlasted Ariya Jutanugarn and Mirim Lee to win the Marathon Classic in Sylvania, Ohio, for her fourth tour victory of the season.

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The top-ranked Ko made a 10-foot birdie putt on the fourth extra hole after Jutanugarn and Lee ran into trouble.

Also the 2014 winner, Ko closed with a 2-under 69 at Highland Meadows to match Jutanugarn and Lee at 14-under 270.

The 19-year-old New Zealander has 14 LPGA Tour titles. She’s 4-1 in playoffs, with the loss coming to Brooke Henderson this year in the KPMG Women’s PGA.

Ko missed a 5-footer birdie putt on the third extra hole, sending the trio back to the 18th tee for the final time. Jutanugarn had chances to win on the first two playoff holes, missing birdie putts of 14 and 8 feet.

Hyo Joo Kim, the leader after three rounds, followed her third-round 64 with a 73 to finish a stroke back. Stacy Lewis was fifth at 11 under after a 71.


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