Concord, NC – After heavy morning rains washed out the final round of the eGolf Tour's Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com, 36-hole co-leaders Ryan Nelson (Houston, TX) and Brian Anderson (Jupiter, FL) hit their first shots of the day in a sudden death playoff on the par-3 15th at Cabarrus Country Club. With a two-putt par from the back fringe on the first extra hole, Nelson managed to capture his second win of the 2011 season to further cement what has been a fantastic rookie campaign.

The Cabarrus Classic presented by VisitCabarrus.com was the 15th event of the 2011 eGolf Tour season and was contested this week at the George Cobb-designed Cabarrus Country Club course in Concord, NC.

For much of the week in the greater Concord, NC area, the story was Mother Nature. A steady rain that pelted the region on Wednesday afternoon continued into Thursday morning before subsiding in the early afternoon hours. An already saturated golf course then got hit with heavy rain throughout much of Friday morning, forcing tour officials to pull players off the golf course at 8:40 AM and suspend play until 1:00 PM. At that point, the golf course was still 4-5 hours away from being playable, in turn giving tour officials no choice but to cancel the round and reduce the event to 36 holes. All earnings and results were deemed official per tour policies, but there was one result left to be determined: The tournament champion.

Nelson and Anderson, who had barely begun their respective warm up sessions when play was initially called, headed out to the daunting par-3 15th for a playoff that would continue to be held on the 15th if extra holes were needed, as it was the only hole deemed playable on the course from an equity standpoint.

Standing on the tee, staring down a front right hole location, Nelson was the first to hit.

"That's a scary tee shot, especially when you haven't hit a shot all day," said Nelson, 33. "But, I knew that long was better than short, so I gave it a little extra to make sure I cleared the bank."

A tee shot to the back fringe left Nelson with a 30-foot birdie try down a quick slope and into the front bowl where the pin was located.

Anderson followed with a slightly pushed tee shot that found the back right fringe, and set up a putt of similar length, but with added right-to-left break that made it a tricky two-putt.

"His putt was definitely harder since he had to factor in the ridge and coming from the side," said Nelson. "When he hit it, I could tell it didn't quite have enough on it to get to the hole."

Anderson stared in disbelief as his birdie putt came up 12 feet short of the hole after taking the ridge early and breaking sideways about 10 feet too soon. The costly error opened the door for Nelson.

Putting downhill, Nelson told himself that the greens were not as fast as they had been the two days prior, so he gave his birdie try a little extra and watched it curl down the hill towards the hole, settling just one inch short.

"I was glad to have a tap-in there. There are a lot of bad things that can happen on that green, and I was fortunate to get out with a two-putt," he said.

The Nelson par put all of the pressure back on Anderson, who had to make his 12-foot par putt in order to go back to the tee for an extra hole. With a stout foot of break on his par try, Anderson's attempt quickly caught the slope and missed on the low side, in turn handing the title to Nelson.

"It's unfortunate; it looked like it was going to be a good day, a real shootout. But Mother Nature had different plans. There is really nothing you can do," said Nelson, who earned $17,000 with the playoff win. "But, I'll take the win however I can get it. It has been a good year out here for me."

The win was Nelson's second of the 2011 season, dating back to a maiden victory at the Scratch Golf Championship in July. With two wins in just nine starts on the year, Nelson has now amassed earnings of $81,685 in 2011 alone, and sits at No. 2 on the tour's money list – trailing recent Nationwide Tour winner Jason Kokrak by $3,775.

"I came out here from Texas to play this tour because I heard how great the courses and the fields were, and it has been everything I expected," said Nelson. "It feels good to win out here because you really feel as though you can then take your game anywhere." 

For Anderson, the playoff loss marked a career-best finish on tour after three years of competing. Prior to this week, the former Illinois State golfer's best finish was a T4 in the 2009 edition of this event. While the finish was his first top-10 of the year, it was his fourth consecutive top-25 dating back to a T23 at the Scratch Golf Championship. The Rochester, IL native has now earned $28,983 on tour this year and is 33rd on the tour's money list.

Taylor Hall (LaGrange, GA), Fernando Mechereffe (Charlotte, NC), Chesson Hadley (Raleigh, NC), David Sanchez (Huntersville, NC) and defending champion Drew Weaver (High Point, NC) finished tied for third, one shot behind the leaders at 11-under 133. All five players earned $5,350 for their efforts on the week.

The finished pushed Mechereffe's earnings up to $70,002 on the year, and in turn moved the native Brazilian up to No. 5 on the tour's money list – the highest ranking of any player on tour without a win this year. The finish was his fourth top-3 finish of 2011 and was his seventh top-10 in his last eight starts on tour.

• The tour would like to thank Cabarrus Country Club head golf professional Ken Guilford, general manager Ronnie Parker and their respective staffs for their help in coordinating this annual event. A special thanks goes out to head golf course superintendent Tim Davis, assistant superintendent Matthew Whitley, and their crew for a fantastic job in getting the golf course ready for play each day in and around heavy rainfall. Finally, the tour would like to thank the volunteers and members of Cabarrus C.C. for allowing the tour to utilize their course for the week. Without their support, the event would not be possible.

• The tour heads north to Gordonsville, VA next week for the Bushnell Classic at Spring Creek on September 28-30, 2011.