Phoenix, Ariz. – Former Northwestern University star Jack Perry of Santa Barbara, Calif. birdied the final hole of regulation at the eGolf Gateway Tour’s winter series event at Papago Golf Course on Thursday afternoon, then birdied the first playoff hole to defeat Tom Whitney of Fort Collins, Colo. en route to claiming his maiden professional title and the event’s $15,000 first-place prize.

Perry and Whitney each started the day tied for the lead at 11-under 133 at Papago, but it was Whitney who made an early move on an ideal scoring day.

Birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 3 took the former Air Force Academy standout to 14-under par – quickly three shots clear of Perry with 15 holes to play in the final round.

Perry birdied the par-3 fourth, but double-bogeyed the par-4 sixth to turn in 1-over 37, still three back of Whitney after the leader made a bogey on the par-4 seventh.

“I told myself going into the day, based on my experience in college, that you never know what’s going to happen when you get to the turn,” said Perry, who finished his Wildcat career with the third-best scoring average in school history. “I got off to a pretty slow start, but winning doesn’t always happen on the front nine. You always have to keep yourself in the fight.”

An unlikely up-and-down for par from 120 yards out on the par-4 ninth spurred Perry’s back-nine charge to overtime, as birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 13 and 14 moved him to 14-under total, just two shots back of Whitney after a birdie on 15 took the leader to 16-under for the week.

On the par-4 18th, Perry laced a “Bubba Watson-like” approach around a bend to 20 feet, while Whitney missed his first green of the day with his second, in turn having to settle for a greenside bunker.

After getting his bunker shot on the green, Whitney watched as Perry drained the final-hole birdie try to post 4-under 68 and 15-under overall.

The closing 31 left Perry on the fringe, hopeful for a playoff, which is exactly what he got when Whitney failed to convert his par putt for the win.

“I was really proud of the back nine,” said Perry. “I just kept trying to give myself a chance.”

The two players headed back to the tee of the 450-yard par-4 18th, where an ideal tee shot left Perry with a hybrid approach to the green.

“That’s not a hole where you’re thinking about birdie, but out here, you have to make birdies to win so that was my mindset,” Perry said.

Trying to put pressure on his 19th hole playing competitor, Perry stuck his second to 10 feet, while Whitney’s approach settled 30 feet away.

After Whitney missed, Perry calmly rolled in the playoff birdie for the first win of his professional career, and the event’s $15,000 first-place prize.

Perry’s career in Evanston, Illinois was of the standout variety, with ownership of Northwestern’s 54-hole scoring record, the second-best single-round score, and the aforementioned career scoring average in a program that has featured a handful of PGA and Web.com Tour stars – namely former World No. 1 Luke Donald.

“I haven’t made a cut in about three months, so I’m not really sure how this feels,” said Perry after the win. “You can’t really describe the feeling – it feels good. This gives me confidence going forward. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season on the eGolf Gateway Tour.”

The runner-up – worth $8,000 – was further good play from Whitney, who now has three top-10s in four starts on the 2014-15 west coast season – including a runner-up effort at last month’s fall series event at McCormick Ranch (Palm). He is currently third on the early-season money list with $17,300 in earnings.

Leading money winner Jake Younan of Australia closed with Thursday’s best round – a 6-under 66 – to notch a solo-third-place finish at 13-under 203, two shots outside of the playoff. He earned $6,000 for the week.

First-round leader Brandon Harkins of Scottsdale, Ariz. wound up alone in fourth place at 11-under 205. He earned $4,600.

eGolf Gateway Tour’s west coast winter series will continue next week at Verrado Golf Club in Buckeye, Ariz. on January 19-21. Registration for this event is still open.