VALDOSTA, Ga.
— won the 2009 South Georgia Classic presented by First State Bank and Trust Company by one stroke over Chris Tidland on Sunday. Tied for the lead with Tidland at the start of the final round, Mulroy shot a 3-under 69 to Tidland’s 70 to secure his first win on the Nationwide Tour. The $112,500 paycheck propels Mulroy into second place on the 2009 Nationwide Tour money list. “The 25” leading money winners at the end of the season earn PGA TOUR cards for 2010. The win also guarantees him fully exempt status on the Nationwide Tour for the rest of this year and all of next year. Walking off the 17th green, Mulroy held a three-stroke lead over Tidland. To one spectator, the final outcome was merely a formality. “Someone in the crowd came up to me as I was walking to the 18th tee and asked me if this was my first win,” Mulroy said. “I told him that I hadn’t won yet.” In fact, the uphill, 501-yard par 4 awaiting Mulroy provided some unexpected suspense. His tee shot found the corner of the right fairway bunker, leaving a difficult approach from approximately 200 yards. With a three-shot cushion, Mulroy just wanted to get the ball up around the green. Unfortunately, his ball drifted right and came to rest against a rake on the bank of a greenside bunker. “If the rake hadn’t been there, I would have been fine — the ball would have rolled down into the bunker. Instead, I had to move the rake and replace the ball on the slope,” he said. “I had absolutely no shot.”
Electing to play it safe, Mulroy hit his third shot sideways and left himself in a tricky position behind the severe false front of the green, still some 30 yards from the hole. His subsequent chip shot stopped 10 feet short.