Len Mattiace claimed his first victory on the PGA Tour after getting the
better of Scott McCarron at the final hole of the Nissan Open in California.
Mattiace and McCarron arrived at the 18th of the Riviera Country Club tied at
15-under-par.
Both players drove the fairway, but Mattiace's approach found the back of the
green while McCarron's landed in the secondary fringe to the left of the cup.
McCarron, who uses the unconventional elongated putter, had a layer of grass
between his ball and the green.
The shot seemed to call for a pitch and run, but McCarron used the putter and
paid for it as the grass slowed his putt to the left of the hole, five feet
short.
Mattiace left a 20-foot birdie attempt about 18 inches short and awaited
McCarron's par putt, which rolled past the hole. He tapped in for bogey.
Mattiace spent little time over his putt, knocking it in for his first win in
220 tournaments.
"I'm just so happy that I hung in there on the back nine, made a few birdies
and gave myself a chance," Mattiace said.
McCarron finished in a three-way tie for second with South Africa's Rory
Sabbatini and Brad Faxon.
Toru Taniguchi was alone in fifth, after finishing with a four-round total of
13-under 271.
The 'Japanese Tiger' was one shot better off than Per-Ulrik Johansson, Chris
DiMarco and Charles Howell III.
Final round scores and totals from the Nissan Open, played at the Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, California (USA unless stated, Par 71)
269 Len Mattiace 69 65 67 68
270 Brad Faxon 67 67 68 68, Scott McCarron 69 65 65 71, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69
68 65 68
271 Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 66 67 67 71
272 Chris DiMarco 68 70 66 68, Per Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 70 68 68 66, Charles
Howell III 68 71 64 69
274 Fred Couples 72 68 68 66, Fred Funk 69 68 69 68, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa)
66 71 70 67, Brian Gay 71 67 68 68
275 Billy Mayfair 69 69 71 66, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 67 67 68
276 Bob Tway 67 68 72 69, Lee Westwood (Gbr) 69 68 70 69, JJ Henry 69 67 71 69,
John Rollins 71 69 67 69
277 Bob Estes 69 69 71 68, Paul Stankowski 69 69 72 67, Scott Verplank 69 68 67
73, Cameron Beckman 69 71 66 71
278 Mark Calcavecchia 70 70 70 68, Jim Carter 71 68 70 69, David Peoples 66 70
69 73, Loren Roberts 69 70 68 71, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 69 72 69 68, Pat Perez 71
69 70 68
279 Tommy Armour III 67 69 73 70, Jerry Kelly 72 66 68 73, Rocco Mediate 69 69
69 72, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 65 69 73 72, Edward Fryatt (Gbr) 69 71 68 71
280 Mark Brooks 71 68 73 68, Tom Lehman 70 69 69 72, Vijay Singh (Fij) 71 70 71
68
281 Robert Allenby (Aus) 73 66 73 69, Stephen Ames (Tri) 71 71 69 70, Olin
Browne 70 69 72 70, Stewart Cink 70 71 69 71, John Daly 70 69 72 70, Jim Furyk
70 71 71 69, Dennis Paulson 69 71 72 69, Jeff Sluman 70 69 73 69, David
Sutherland 68 71 71 71, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 69 72 66 74, Briny Baird 71 71
67 72, Carlos Franco (Par) 69 72 69 71, Michael Clark II 68 72 69 72
282 Paul Azinger 69 69 70 74, Pat Bates 72 68 71 71, Scott Hoch 68 72 70 72,
Kenny Perry 70 72 67 73, Peter Lonard 71 71 71 69
283 Billy Andrade 66 73 72 72, Bradley Hughes 71 71 70 71, Andrew Magee 73 67
70 73, Bob May 71 69 70 73, Kirk Triplett 73 69 72 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 69
73 72 69, Kenneth Staton 71 70 69 73, Matt Peterson 75 67 69 72
284 Tom Pernice Jr 71 70 73 70, Ben Crane 70 72 71 71, John Senden 71 69 73 71
285 John Cook 71 69 71 74, Craig Perks 71 71 72 71, JP Hayes 74 67 72 73, Steve
Flesch 69 71 72 74
287 Neal Lancaster 70 71 73 73, Esteban Toledo (Mex) 67 72 72 76, Kaname Yokoo
(Jpn) 72 70 74 71, KJ Choi (Kor) 69 73 70 75
288 Russ Cochran 69 70 71 78, Jay Haas 71 71 73 73, Paul McGinley (Irl) 71 70
76 71, Matt Kuchar 71 68 76 73, Michael Muehr 73 68 72 75
290 Scott Simpson 71 68 75 76
293 Bob Burns 72 70 73 78
Withdrew: David Duval 67 69 70
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