James Driscoll 8 Under Par, But Johnson The Winner

This is how it happened. Johnson defends Texas Open title in playoff: Zach Johnson birdied the first playoff hole to beat James Driscoll. James Driscoll carded a final round of 8-under-par 62 and finished in second place after a playoff with Zach Johnson.

Zach Johnson literally survived a Texas-style shootout with James Driscoll to win the Valero Texas Open for the second time in seven months. Bill Haas came third, Paul Goydos is the fourth and Brian Davis came the 5th.

Liveblog quote from PGATour.com on Zach Johnson vs James Driscoll game.

Both Zach Johnson and James Driscoll had the same yardages to the green on 18 that they had in regulation. Johnson hit his approach even closer this time around, landing it 10 feet, 2 inches away. Driscoll, meanwhile, hung his shot out into the wind a bit and came up 26 feet, 7 inches away and will give Johnson a bit of a read since his putt will be on a similar line.

Driscoll's only other playoff came at the 2005 Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he lost to Tim Petrovic and it looks like he might get the same result today.

Needing to make his putt to put some pressure on Zach Johnson, James Driscoll missed his putt on the high side. This week. Driscoll made a dozen putts over 10 feet, but this won't be one of them. Johnson, meanwhile, rolled his into the heart of the cup for a birdie and the win. That gives Johnson his second victory here in just seven months with this tournament having been played last year as part of the Fall Series and his second win of 2009. It also completed a nice turnaround for Johnson, who at one point today was 1 over on his round. He recovered with a birdie on 13 to get to even on the day and then made the biggest birdie of his season on 18 in the playoff. The victory also vaults Johnson to the top of the FedExCup standings with a little less than than half the season to go.

Live blogging quote is from Brian Wacker.