Durant's determination overcomes Jimenez's talent

The ball was bumped against the back collar. It would be about a 25-foot roll to the cup if Jimenez was able to strike the ball true.

Someone near the front of the pack noticed that Joe Durant's view was being blocked and suggested that room be made for him to see Jimenez's attempt.

"That's OK,'' said Durant, with a smile. "I'll be able to tell by the reaction of the fans.''

Jimenez put the ball in play, and the people watching from the elevated areas and the hospitality tents around the green started to offer the anticipatory sound as Miguel's Srixon pellet tumbled toward the hole.

And then there was a golf gallery's timeless groan when a hole somehow rejects a golf ball and allows it to hang on the edge.

Jimenez did not get the eagle-3 on the closing hole to win Minnesota's 24th annual senior event; instead, he had to settle for a fourth straight birdie, which put him at 19 under and in a playoff with Durant.

The crowd behind the 18th had parted slightly to offer Durant a peek at Jimenez's eagle try. As Miguel Angel's ball stayed on the right lip, Durant blew a big breath of "whew.''

The only previous playoff in this event was in 1998, and that was a rain-shortened, 36-hole event when Leonard Thompson beat Isao Aoki at Bunker Hills. The tournament moved to TPC Twin Cities in 2001, where there have been numerous close finishes but never a trip back to the 18th tee to start a playoff.

Durant and Jimenez both blasted drives near the huge pond that leads to the 18th green. Durant went first from 186 yards and hit a 5-iron within 10 feet. Jimenez missed the putt and there it was:

Durant, another Srixon man, had 8 or 9 feet for an eagle and his first individual victory in almost a decade.

He made it, dead center.

Durant was 36 in 2001 when he won twice, had six top 10s and earned $2,381,684, for 14th on the PGA Tour money list.

Does it feel like even longer than 10 years since the last victory?

"It feels like a relief,'' Durant said. "The last four, five years on the PGA Tour, it's hard to even sniff a victory. And since I came on this tour, I've been close, but I wasn't able to finish it off.''

Durant admitted the missed chances with the Champions had led to "doubt creeping into my mind'' about being able to win again.

He did share the Legends event title with Billy Andrade in 2015, and it counts as an official Champions Tour victory, but winning strictly on your own is a different deal.

Jimenez and Durant are both 52. At this moment, Jimenez is probably the most talented player any time he tees it up on the Champions Tour. And beating Jimenez — the famed "Mechanic'' of European golf — should take care of those Durant doubts.

Yes, the open fairways of TPC Twin Cities do lead to very low scoring for this talented 50-plus crowd, but it's not like Durant is a stranger to birdies in bunches.

Durant's second PGA Tour victory came in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic in February 2001. That was the tour's only five-round event from its inception in 1960 through 2011.

Durant was a record-setting 36 under for those five rounds on desert courses in California. The 324 total figures to stand as the five-round record for eternity, now that the Palm Springs event has joined the rest of the tour as a 72-holer.

Hey, Joe, 36 under … what was that?

"That was a long time ago,'' Durant said. "But really, the way I hit the ball here the last two days, it reminded me of the way I played that year in Palm Springs.''

Patrick Reusse can be heard 3-6 p.m. weekdays on AM-1500.