Mark McNulty won the Principal Charity Classic on the fourth hole of a sudden-death playoff with Fred Funk and Nick Price Sunday, but there’s
plenty of glory to go around. Funk, the hard-luck runner-up, could only smile and shake his head after lipping out three putts in the last seven holes he played at Glen Oaks. Any of them would have made him the winner. “It still doesn’t feel too good,” Funk said. “But that’s the way it goes.” Price, a fan favorite, created a huge roar around the 18th green when he drained a 20-footer for birdie to get in the playoff. The fans that stuck around caught more drama when McNulty made his 30-footer on the 18th green, the fourth playoff hole, to win the most entertaining tournament in the Principal Charity Classic’s nine-year history. In 2002, Bob Gilder had to make a 4-footer for par to maintain his one-shot lead over John Bland. In 2006, Loren Roberts missed a 9-footer for birdie that would have caught Gil Morgan. And last year, Andy Bean and Nick Price both had a chance to catch Haas with a last-hole birdie. Neither came close. So Sunday’s show made this event the most memorable and dramatic ever at Glen Oaks.
Many in the announced crowd of 24,611 stayed around the catch the drama, and see another first.