Elkington Is Winner on No. 73 : Golf: He keeps his cool by merely extending the Tournament of Champions, then birdies the first playoff hole.

CARLSBAD —  A lesson that Steve Elkington remembered from when he won his first tour tournament, the 1990 Greensboro Open, rewarded him Sunday.

“What I learned is that you don’t have to play your best golf. You just have to be there at the end,” he said.

The end in the Infiniti Tournament of Champions came on the first extra hole of a sudden death playoff--the 10th hole at La Costa.

Elkington was tied with Brad Faxon after 72 holes at 279, nine under par. Elkington hit a seven-iron to within 10 feet of the cup and sank a birdie putt to win. Faxon had left his 25-foot putt short.

Elkington, a 29-year-old Australian who lives in Houston, became the tour’s first winner of the year. He received a first-place check worth $144,000.

He had a two-stroke lead over Faxon, Rocco Mediate and Billy Andrade at the start of the final round and had played virtually flawless golf for three rounds, with his only bogey coming on the first day of the tournament.

Elkington wasn’t as steady on Sunday. After getting a birdie on the first hole, he double-bogeyed the fifth hole. Then he bogeyed the eighth hole after driving into a bunker.

“I was disgusted at that point,” Elkington said.

However, he birdied the 538-yard ninth hole, a par five, with a five-iron shot to within five feet of the cup.

“That changed the whole thing,” Elkington said. “I was going in the wrong direction at that time.”

Elkington got birdies at the 12th and 14th, but bogeyed the par-five 17th.

Faxon, playing just ahead of Elkington, had birdied the 17th hole. Faxon got his par at No. 18, so Elkington knew that he had get a birdie at 18 to win the tournament and avoid a playoff.

Elkington two-putted from eight feet, and the Tournament of Champions had its first playoff since 1977, when Jack Nicklaus beat Bruce Lietzke.

“I wasn’t worried about a playoff,” Elkington said. “I didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket on the last hole, that I had to make a birdie.”

It was Elkington’s first playoff. But he didn’t want to put any pressure on himself.

“It was just an extension of the event,” he said. “This is (hole) number 73.”

Elkington shot a 72 Sunday, and Faxon had a 70.

“I would have been disappointed not to win the tournament,” Elkington said. “But I knew something would happen with so many tough players in the field.”

Fred Couples, Andrade and Mediate tied for third at 280.

Andrade, who was two shots behind Faxon at the beginning of the final round, had the lead after nine holes when he shot a 34 on the front side. Elkington had a one-over-par 37.

Andrade faded from serious contention on the final nine holes.

Elkington, who has three tour victories in a career that began in 1987, said that his goal this year was to be more patient. He added that he is not outwardly nervous, but that he has had difficulty in staying calm.

“I have a tendency to rush things a little,” he said. “Playing slow is better for me.

“There was a time when I thought I was losing it a little bit today, but I still had that fire in me where I wasn’t going to get quick or impatient.”

Elkington drove into the right rough on the playoff hole, a par four measuring 450 yards.

He then hit what he called a “terrific” seven-iron, 175 yards to within 10 feet of the cup.

“The hole opens up for you from the right side of the fairway,” Elkington said. “I had the same putt earlier, and I knew it would break right to left.”

Faxon, 30, who has been on the tour since 1984, wasn’t overly disappointed to lose in a playoff.

“I did the best I could,” he said. “I haven’t played for a while, so it was a great way to start the year.”

Said Elkington: “This is a special tournament because it’s all the champions. When I was a kid I grew up in the country in Australia where if you were a club champion, you qualified for the ‘Champion of Champions’ and I won that.”

So, there is some precedent for Elkington’s victory Sunday.