As a connoisseur of fine wine, Duffy Waldorf had the ingredients for a proper celebration when he captured top prize of $450,000 in the Buick Classic at Westchester CC on Sunday. The 36-year-old Californian beat fellow Californian Dennis Paulson on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off.

It was only the second tour win for Waldorf whose previous victory came in the 1995 Texas Open. Meanwhile, runner-up position represented a career-best performance by 36-year-old Paulson, who graduated from the Nike Tour last year.

With "It's up to you NY" written in biro on his ball for the crucial, finishing holes, Waldorf needed to birdie the last two holes to force a tie with Paulson, who shot a closing 67 to set the target of 276 - eight under par. And New York delivered for him in a closing 71, when he sank a four-footer on the 71st and got up and down from a greenside bunker for another birdie at the 72nd.

For the play-off, they went back down the 526-yard 18th. This time Waldorf was in a greenside bunker but his position was appreciably better than that of Paulson who pushed his second shot under a tree and was still in rough off the green in three.

As it happened, Waldorf recovered to 12 feet past the hole from where he had two putts for the title. As so often happens in such circumstances, the lag-putt found the target. So, with birdies at his last three holes, there could hardly have been a more emphatic way of capturing a title.