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By Brett Avery
PGATOUR.COM Contributor

Someone mentions the word "playoff" and the natural reaction is to think of a one-hole showdown. Perhaps two holes.

Eight? Nearly intolerable, especially if it involves a PGA TOUR-record five players.

Woody Blackburn's second-place finish at the 1981 Quad Cities Open was his lone top-10 of the year. (Getty Images)

Dave Barr, a five-time winner on the circuit in his native Canada, made a two-putt par from 65 feet to clip Woody Blackburn at the 80th hole of the week and make the 1981 Quad Cities Open. The overtime may have made him sweat more than he wanted, but it made him another member of a select group in tournament and TOUR history.

Eighteen players have made the event, now known as the John Deere Classic, their first triumph. Through eight name changes and three courses -- the last seven summers at TPC Deere Run -- the tournament¹s one constant has been the penchant for breakthrough victories.

Reading through the list of past champs, some of those never-before names literally leap off the page: Sam Adams (1973), Roger Maltbie ('75), John Lister ('76), Mike Morley ('77), D.A. Weibring ('79), Scott Hoch ('80), Barr, Payne Stewart ('82), Dan Forsman ('85), Blaine McCallister ('88), Curt Byrum ('89), David Toms ('97), J.L. Lewis ('99), Michael Clark II (2000), David Gossett ('01), Mark Hensby ('04), Sean O'Hair ('05) and John Senden ('06).

The finish in 1981, though, was one of the wildest in TOUR history. Victor Regalado of Mexico went into the final day with seven players within three shots including defending champion Hoch, Bob Gilder and Bobby Clampett.

With two holes remaining in regulation he remained two ahead and seemed

ready to erase more than a year's worth of frustration, including sitting out a six-week stretch that June and July. But Regalado botched his pitch shot at the 71st green and couldn't hole an 18-footer to save par, then lipped out a four-footer at the 72nd.

"I blew up again," he lamented. "I just gave it away."

His misfortunes resulted in a five-way playoff among North Americans. From the top of the continent: Barr and Dan Halldorson of Canada, Blackburn and Frank Conner of the United States and Regalado representing Mexico.

They were at 270 for the week, one shot ahead of four more guys who could have made it an even larger part at the 73rd tee: Jack Renner, Calvin Peete, Mark McCumber and Dan Pohl.

Dave Barr went on to win the 2003 Royal Caribbean on the CHampions Tour. (Getty Images)

Conner, Halldorson and Regalado made pars at the first extra hole and could not match birdies by the other two, who reached the green with their second shots. So Barr and Blackburn, who had won the 1976 Walt Disney World National Team Championship with Billy Kratzert, continued to the second hole, where each made a short putt for par.

And the third, where Blackburn ran down a nine-footer for par after lagging poorly from 60 feet.

And the fourth, where they parred.

And the fifth, where they parred.

And the sixth, where they parred.

And the seventh, where they parred.

And the eighth, where Blackburn finally blinked.

He stuck his approach shot in a greenside bunker and slashed it out from a buried lie to 20 feet beyond the flagstick. Blackburn's comeback putt halted two feet short, leaving Barr to complete his two-putt for the win.

Barr was about as unexpected a victor as one could imagine (no Regalado pun intended). He had made the cut in only 10 starts to that point in the season and the tie for 31st the previous week in the Greater Milwaukee Open was his best individual finish since a tie for 10th in the Joe Garagiola-Tucson Open in February 1980.

Barr pocketed $36,000, by miles the biggest check in a season in which he made $46,214 in official earnings. Bill Rogers may have earned the headlines that week, winning the concurrent British Open at Royal St. George's by four shots over Bernhard Langer, but the victory pushed Barr on a different career path.

He would continue on the PGA TOUR through 2002, twice winning the World Cup (1984-85, the latter with Halldorson as his teammate), the 1987

Georgia-Pacific Atlanta Golf Classic and the 1994 Alfred Dunhill Cup leading the Canadian squad that included Rick Gibson and Ray Stewart.

Barr graduated to the Champions Tour in 2002 and became the first Canadian to capture a title on that circuit, the Royal Caribbean Classic as he opened the 2003 season.

Without a playoff.