SNOQUALMIE -- In the heat of battle -- such was the case Sunday in the final round of the Boeing Classic -- Mark Calcavecchia can be highly emotional and hilariously entertaining all in one big ball of nerves.

Except this time around, he notched his first Champions Tour victory.

He had plenty of chances for a blow-up moment, but the 51-year-old from West Palm Beach, Fla., got more good breaks than bad ones, and finally took down equally proficient Russ Cochran in a one-hole playoff.

After both men shot 7-under-par 65s -- tying the best round of the week -- to break away from the field at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge, Calcavecchia birdied the par-5 18th hole a second time in the extra session to defeat Cochran, who made par from a greenside bunker.

Calcavecchia earned $300,000 for his triumph. More importantly, he collected himself at the pressure-packed times whereas in the past, he has been his own worst enemy.

"He had that look in his eye," Cochran said. "Probably at times, 'Calc' could come to a situation that may irritate him, or bother him just a little bit, or throw him off just a little bit. He never had that today.

"Today looked like no matter what was going to happen that he was going to keep coming and keep making birdies and keep doing good things."

Despite winning 13 times on the PGA Tour, including the 1989 British Open, Calcavecchia has let many more tournaments get away. One of those was at this season's Regions Tradition in Alabama, which is a major championship for the 50-and-over set. He lost a six-shot lead midway through the third round.

"I have let a lot of tournaments get away my whole career," Calcavecchia said. "I have that fault. Not that I am not tough, but I don't always play so great on the back nine when I need to."

He moved out to a three-stroke lead Sunday, saw it reduced to a single shot after an eighth-hole bogey. And his 7-iron tee shot on the par-3 ninth hole flew over the flagstick, but carried into a sand bunker on the back side.

Staring a bogey in the face, Calcavecchia landed his second shot right on the fringe. The ball then trickled down a big slope and hit the center of the cup for an improbable birdie to get to 11-under for the tournament.

But Cochran never went away. He birdied the 14th hole to tie Calcavecchia at 12-under.

On the 16th hole, Calcavecchia did it again -- chipping in from 40 feet off the green for a birdie to take a one-stroke lead.

Likely needing an eagle on the uphill finishing hole, Cochran's hybrid approach from 235 yards carried to the back of the green. After Calcavecchia tapped in a short put for birdie to get to 14-under, Cochran coaxed his 10-footer for eagle to tie him.

"Russ," Calcavecchia said, "he is tough as nails."

The two golfers replayed the 18th hole. Calcavecchia landed his second shot in roughly the same spot -- short and 40 feet away while Cochran's 3-iron approach sailed right into a bunker.

Cochran's third shot flew to the back rough, and he left his birdie chip short, giving the title to Calcavecchia -- his first in 31 Champions Tour appearances.

"I don't know if I was due, but I guess I kind of was," Calcavecchia said. "Everybody kept telling me to keep getting there (in contention), you will win one sooner or later.

"Today, I knew I was playing good coming in here. I was looking forward to today. I kind of drove out here and I said, 'Play your best and don't worry about what anyone else is shooting.' If that doesn't get a win, it wasn't my time yet. I was OK with that. Maybe that is partly what helped me."

CHIP SHOTS

Chip Beck finished in third alone at 9-under 207 -- five strokes behind the neighbors from Tequesta, which is a suburb of West Palm Beach. ... Defending champion Bernhard Langer (73) tied for 11th at 214. ... Seattle's Fred Couples eagled the first hole, but also shot 73. He tied for 16th at 215 -- a week after winning the Senior Players Championship in New York. ... The Calcavecchia-Cochran playoff was the third in event history -- and first since 2007 when Denis Watson won a seven-man playoff. ... Attendance for the week drew just more than 80,000, which is a tournament record.