Remi Chartier defends New Years Invitational title in a playoff

History stared New Year's Invitational's defending champion, Remi Chartier, in the face Sunday at the New Year's Invitational, holding a two-stroke lead with 18 holes to play. But, unlike his 2021 wire-to-wire victory at St. Petersburg Country Club, the East Tennessee State sophomore finished tied for the lead with Aidan Kramer at 9-under and went to the 73rd hole to find the winner's circle again. Chartier became the 10th player to defend their title in the 96-year-old tournament's history.

The Montreal native wasn't within five strokes of the lead heading into the weekend. Ervin Chang broke away from the pack with an opening 11-under into the weekend, bolstered by a Friday 65. Chartier's second round 73 pushed him to eight back of the leader. He responded Saturday with a 65 of his own to take the lead into the final round.

Kramer teed off in the group in front of Chartier, and fired a 69, the low round of the day on Sunday, to finish nine-under. Kramer, a sophomore at Georgia Tech, held the outright lead after birdieing the 16th and 18th, with Chartier and Nic Hofman sitting on the par 5 18th at eight under.

Chartier carded his third consecutive birdie on the hole, with Hofman posting a par to miss out in the playoff. The Purdue sophomore birdied the final hole the previous two days. Chartier and Kramer went to the first for their playoff, with the Canadian ending it with a stuffed approach to 2 ½ feet for birdie.

The victory is Chartier's third top-5 finish in his last five starts, finishing third at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate and fourth at the White Sands Bahamas Invitation.

Mike Barkley also defended his senior division title at one-under-par, with his second round 68 marking the low round of the group. David Lang won the Mid-Am group at 6-under, posting an opening 67 for the low round of the division. Lang's score finished tied him for fourth in the championship flight.