American Pat Perez took advantage of a final-round collapse by overnight leader Steve Stricker to win his maiden PGA Tour title by three shots at the Bob Hope Classic.
Three strokes off the pace at the start of a blustery day, Perez survived a topsy-turvy outward nine on his way to a three-under-par 69 on the Palmer Private course at PGA West.
He struck a superb second shot to three feet to set up an eagle at the par-five 18th for a 33-under total of 327, finishing three ahead of compatriot John Merrick (67).
Stricker had to settle for a share of third place at 28 under with 2003 winner Mike Weir of Canada (67), closing with an ugly 77 after dropping seven shots in two holes around the turn.
“I just tried to stay pretty even keeled,” Perez said after a round also featuring five birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey at the par-three fifth.
“I knew it was going to be tough and it seemed like for the most part it was just really me and Stricker for a while, and then Stricker had a bad hole on 10 and then it was just me and Merrick.
“I figured if I could just play solid and hit some good shots and kind of stay calm and just think about what I’m doing out there, I was going to be fine.”
World number 16 Stricker, the highest-ranked player in the field, had been widely expected to clinch his fifth PGA Tour title after going into the final round three ahead of the chasing pack.
After parring the first five holes, he birdied the sixth before running up a triple-bogey at the seventh where his tee shot ended up in a lake.
Out in two-over 38, his victory bid spectacularly unravelled with a quadruple-bogey at the par-four 10th where he struck one tee shot out of bounds and the next into water.
“It’s disappointing,” said Stricker, who had charged ahead of the field with scintillating scores of 61 and 62 on Friday and Saturday. “Just a couple of bad swings that really cost me big time and I hit them in spots where I couldn’t recover.
“It was tough to judge the wind. We would feel it in our face one hole, and the same hole it would feel downwind. It was all over the place.
“It was tough to pick a correct club, and it was hard to feel comfortable with anything. And it showed for me a couple of times today.
“It’s a little tough to recover from a triple and a quad,” added Stricker, who is widely regarded as one of the best putters on the PGA Tour.
“But overall, if you had told me I would have played like I did this week coming into the tournament, I still take a lot of positives away, even though today didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to.”
