CALGARY, Alta. – Dustin Risdon won one for the home folks by capturing the ATB Financial Classic with a birdie on the first playoff hole over George Bradford.  The Calgary native and Bradford finished regulation at 20 under par 264 but it was Risdon’s 7-iron to two feet at the first playoff hole that landed him his second Canadian Tour title.

Steve Conway, Josh Habig and Ricky Romano all closed with 65s to share third spot at 265 with Kris Wasylowich who finished with a 68.  Clint Rice (64), defending champion Mike Grob (66), Mike Sica (69) and Jordan Krantz (68) shared eighth spot at 18 under par 266.

Bradford had it to eight under after 11 holes before cooling off somewhat in the blistering heat but his 63 had him in the clubhouse early.

However, it was Risdon who took charge in the playoff.

Both Risdon and Bradford split the fairway with their tee shots, but while Risdon landed to almost tap-in range with his second, Bradford left himself with a 60-footer.

Risdon then tapped-in for the title after Bradford narrowly missed with his first putt.

“That was one of the best shots I’ve ever hit,” said Risdon of his second shot at the first extra hole.

“To win in front of the home crowd really feels special. I don’t know, maybe the golf gods were with me this week.”

“I was struggling all week with the putter,” said Risdon, who has won both of his Canadian Tour titles in Alberta.

“I missed a couple of three-footers early and never felt confident all week with the putter.

Wasylowich briefly pulled into the lead on the back nine when Risdon bogeyed two holes late in the round to drop a shot back.

“I made bogeys at 14 and 15 and lost the lead for a while and when that happened, I figured I had lost the tournament,” said Risdon.

“I told my caddy that and she said that we’ll just have to win the hard way today.

“Standing at the 17^th tee, I watched as Kris (Wasylowich) hit his tee shot to about 12 feet.

"When I hit mine, I thought I put it in the bunker so I sort of turned away in disgust. I figured that if Kris makes his birdie and I don’t, it is game over.”

Instead of landing in the bunker, Risdon’s tee shot took a fortuitous hop, hit the pin, and landed six feet away from the hole

He then sank the clutch put to move back into a share of the lead after Wasylowich missed his birdie effort.

Both Wasylowich and Risdon pulled their tee shots into the left rough on the final hole of regulation and a three way playoff, or perhaps an outright victory by Bradford, seemed imminent.   

Wasylowich dumped his approach left of the pin in the rough and failed to get up and down for par.

“It was probably the worst lie I had all week,” said Wasylowich.

“I didn’t really know what to hit out of there. It wasn’t the second shot that killed me, it was the third. I just hit a bad shot out of the rough beside the green and missed the eight-footer for par.  

Risdon’s second shot left him about eight feet for the win.

With the hushed gallery looking on, he missed by about two inches left and he and Bradford went to a playoff.

“I really didn’t expect to be in the playoff,” said Bradford, who closed with a 63.

“My thinking was that 23 under par would be the winning score, so yeah, I was a bit surprised. When I finished I figured that a lot of birdies were out there for the rest of the field.

“I knew I had it going pretty well on the range this morning. I got a lesson from my roommate Dong Yi who said I had to move away from the ball a bit. I started striping the ball yesterday and it just continued today.

“I putted well all week but I hadn’t been hitting my irons well. Today, that finally came together as well."

Bradford had an adventure at the last hole to get into the playoff

At the last hole in regulation, he pushed his tee shot near a clump of trees and seemed to be done.

However, a brilliant recovery shot put him on the green where he was able to two-putt and post 20 under par.

“I made the mistake of telling myself I had been driving it well all day and sure enough, I put it in the junk,” continued Bradford.  

“It was a long walk to my ball but I was relieved that it wasn’t that bad of a lie and I was able to put it on the green.”

For Kris Wasylowich, it was his second T-3 of the season.

The Canadian caught and eventually passed a struggling Risdon and seemed poised for at least a playoff until the final hole.