SAN JOSE, California: Rocco Mediate held his nerve while shrugging off five bogeys in 12 holes to win his first PGA Tour title in eight years with a thrilling one-shot victory at the Frys.com Open in San Martin Sunday. Three ahead overnight, Mediate was caught by four other players on the back nine and briefly surrendered the outright lead before sealing the wire-to-wire win with a spectacular finish. The 47-year-old American sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the 16th and then holed out from the fairway to eagle the 17th on the way to a two-over-par 73 at a wet CordeValle Golf Club. He finished on a 15-under total of 269, one ahead of compatriots Bo Van Pelt (71) and PGA Tour rookie Alex Prugh (69). United States Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler, who birdied three of the last seven holes, was fourth at 13 under after closing with a 69. Van Pelt rolled in a 38-footer to birdie the last and Prugh sank a 10-footer to put pressure on Mediate but the Tour veteran coolly knocked in a five-foot par putt to clinch his sixth PGA Tour victory. “This just means everything to me,” a beaming Mediate told reporters after winning his first title on the US circuit since the 2002 Greater Greensboro Classic. Chris Tidland made it a four-way tie at the top with three consecutive birdies from the 12th before Fowler also joined them by sinking a 12-footer to birdie the 14th. Prugh and Tidland each fell back, with respective bogeys at 14 and 16, before Van Pelt snatched the outright lead by knocking in a four-foot birdie putt at the 15th. Mediate, who had struggled on the greens, pulled level with Van Pelt when he made an 18-footer for birdie at the par-three 16th. Fowler also got to 13 under when he drove the green at the par-four 17th and two-putted from 22 feet for birdie. The brilliant shot-making continued when Prugh very nearly aced the 17th, his ball landing a foot short of the cup before bouncing forward three feet beyond. Playing partner Mediate, who had laid up short of the green off the 17th tee, asked Prugh to mark his ball before he holed out from 116 yards for his fourth eagle of the week. Spain's Recari wins title Spain's Beatriz Recari won the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge Sunday for her first LPGA Tour title, overcoming soggy conditions and a late bogey for a one-stroke victory over France's Gwladys Nocera. The 23-year-old Recari, a tour rookie who made cuts in only three of her first 13 stroke-play events this season, rebounded from a bogey on the No. 17 with a par on the 18th for a 2-under 70 and a 14-under 274 total on the Blackhawk Country Club course. Nocera birdied the final hole for a 70. Michele Redman (76) and Karine Icher (70) tied for third at 12 under. Cristie Kerr missed a chance to overtake Ai Miyazato for the No. 1 ranking, closing with a 70 to tie for fifth with Wendy Ward (72) at 11 under. Kerr needed to at least share third to take the top spot. The win ended a 14-month world victory drought for Recari, who nearly tripled her career winnings with the $165,000 first-place prize. Recari hadn't had much success since leaving the LET. That changed when she calmly sank a 2-foot putt on the 18th, then immediately jumped into the arms of her caddie under a steady drizzle of rain. The weather affected the final round and made it tough to gain ground after the tournament began in 95-degree heat Thursday. The leaders found that out the hard way. The 45-year-old Redman, seeking her first win since 2000, went into the final round tied with Recari and Ilhee Lee but couldn't hold on. After falling a stroke behind when Recardi birdied No. 6, Redman pulled even with a birdie on the ninth but fell behind again after pushing her tee shot right on the par-3, 10th. The ball settled in thick, wet rough and Redman's chip shot fell 3 feet shy of the green. She settled for bogey. Lee, a rookie from South Korea who nearly quit the tour this year after missing seven straight cuts, bogeyed three of the first four holes Sunday and fell off the pace with a 78. Lee tied for 15th at 6 under. Recari had her problems, too. She birdied the third but gave the stroke back two holes later with a bogey on the par-5 fifth. A birdie on the sixth put her in front again and she added birdies on Nos. 13 and 14. Recari's bogey on 17 coupled with Nocera's birdie on the 18th cut the lead to one. With Nocera standing close by, Recari avoided a playoff by two-putting from just off the front of the green. Brittany Lincicome, the first-round leader after a course-record 61, shot a 70 to tie for eighth at 9 under.
