Todd Hamilton birdied the final two holes to claim his first career PGA Tour victory in the Honda Classic at the Country Club of Mirasol.

The 38-year-old rookie played the first 16 holes in four over par but made clutch putts of eight and three feet to cap a life-changing two-over 74.

He finished the event at 12-under 276 and collected the 900,000 US dollars (£500,000) top prize.

It was the first win in 18 PGA Tour starts for Hamilton, who last season led the Japanese Tour with four titles and also has won in Thailand, Singapore and Korea.

A three-time All-American at Oklahoma who nearly quit the game before earning the 1992 Order of Merit on the Asian Tour, Hamilton earned his first PGA Tour card by tying for 16th at last year's Qualifying Tournament.

Hamilton caught and passed the fourth-ranked player in the world. Davis Love had erased a six-stroke deficit after 54 holes, which would have been a record in the 32-year history of the event.

Seeking his 19th PGA Tour crown, Love finished with a 69, giving him an 11-under 277 total. Brian Bateman was alone in third at 278, a shot ahead of four players, including Australia's Robert Allenby.

Collated final-round scores (USA unless stated, par 72):

276 Todd Hamilton 68 66 68 74

277 Davis Love III 69 69 70 69

278 Brian Bateman 71 69 70 68

279 Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 67 69 70 73, Robert Allenby (Aus) 68 74 67 70, Woody Austin 71 69 69 70, Kevin Na (Kor) 67 72 71 69

280 Brad Faxon 68 66 76 70

281 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 72 71 72, Chad Campbell 71 70 71 69, Lee Janzen 74 66 70 71, Tommy Armour III 69 69 73 70

282 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 75 67 67 73, Zach Johnson 69 75 66 72, Mark Hensby (Aus) 65 73 71 73, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 73 70 70 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 63 68 76 75, Craig Bowden 69 69 72 72, Chris Riley 72 67 68 75, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 68 70 74

283 Briny Baird 68 71 73 71, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 69 67 75, Larry Mize 68 71 70 74, Luke Donald (Eng) 70 69 75 69

284 Justin Leonard 71 73 69 71, David Toms 72 72 69 71, Fred Couples 68 70 73 73, Brenden Pappas (Rsa) 69 72 70 73, Brett Quigley 69 74 71 70

285 Ted Purdy 69 73 70 73, Chris DiMarco 74 68 74 69, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 66 72 74 73, Ryan Palmer 72 68 74 71, Steve Flesch 66 76 71 72, John Senden (Aus) 72 66 75 72

286 Craig Parry (Aus) 73 68 72 73, Justin Rose (Eng) 71 70 71 74, Cliff Kresge 73 70 72 71

287 Notah Begay III 72 72 72 71, Roger Tambellini 70 70 74 73

288 Patrick Sheehan 71 71 76 70, Billy Mayfair 70 69 73 76, Hidemichi Tanaka (Jpn) 71 68 72 77, DJ Brigman 72 69 73 74, Craig Perks (Nzl) 72 70 74 72

289 Chris Smith 70 73 73 73, Brandt Jobe 69 73 74 73, Ken Duke 68 74 71 76, John Riegger 67 75 71 76, Glen Hnatiuk (Can) 69 72 72 76, Carlos Franco (Fra) 67 75 73 74, Mark O'Meara 71 73 74 71

290 Joe Durant 73 71 70 76, Charles Howell III 72 71 75 72

291 Dean Wilson 70 73 72 76, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 74 70 70 77, Craig Barlow 73 70 72 76, J J Henry 74 68 79 70

292 Pat Bates 72 72 69 79, Glen Day 69 70 74 79, Skip Kendall 71 73 76 72, David Gossett 69 74 73 76, Robert Damron 69 72 74 77, Jeff Sluman 72 68 80 72

293 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 71 71 75 76, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 71 72 75 75, Scott McCarron 69 74 73 77, Danny Ellis 71 69 75 78

294 Jason Dufner 72 72 79 71

295 Jay Delsing 72 72 73 78, Joe Ogilvie 71 70 77 77, Gene Sauers 68 73 76 78

298 Michael Allen (Irl) 69 73 76 80