Bob Hope Classic: Final-round notebook

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LA QUINTA, Calif. -- Pat Perez stuffed a 6-iron to within 3 feet, 1 inch from 199 yards on the final hole Sunday to wrap up his first PGA TOUR win. Perez, playing in the final threesome, rolled in the eagle putt at the closing par 5 to wind up at 33 under par, three better than John Merrick, who earned his career-best finish.

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John Merrick earned his career-best finish on Sunday.

Inside the Numbers

Final Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Pat Perez 327 -33 2. John Merrick 330 -30 T3. Mike Weir 332 -28 T3. Steve Stricker 332 -28 T5. Stephen Ames 333 -27 T5. Bo Van Pelt 333 -27 T5. Tim Clark 333 -27 T5. Webb Simpson 333 -27 T9. Brad Adamonis 334 -26 T9. Chad Campbell 334 -26 T9. John Senden 334 -26 T9. Tom Pernice Jr. 334 -26 T9. Richard S. Johnson 334 -26

• Perez becomes the fifth player in the 50 years of the Bob Hope Classic to earn his first PGA TOUR win in this event. The win came in his 198th career start. The other first-timers were Charley Hoffman, who got his first win in his 41st career start in 2007; Donnie Hammond, who got his first of two career wins in his 87th career start in 1985; Craig Stadler, who got his first of 13 career wins in his 106th career start in 1980; and Bill Rogers, who got his first of six career wins in his 68th career start in 1978.

• Perez joins a growing list of comeback winners in this event. Perez came from three strokes off the pace in the final round to reach the winner's circle, joining several others in the past dozen years, including three of the last four winners.

• The low rounds of the day were the 63 from Stephen Ames, the 64s from Chad Campbell and Matt Kuchar, and the 65s from Brad Adamonis and Nick Watney. Kuchar and Brian Gay (66) had the only two bogey-free rounds on Sunday.

• Steve Stricker's 5-over-par 77 Sunday ties the second-highest final-round score by a 72-hole leader in tournament history. The highest final-round score by a leader/co-leader was an 80 turned in by Lucas Glover, who held a share of the lead in 2007 before posting an 8-over 80 at the Classic Club. Co-leader Billy Casper also posted a 77 in 1962

• When tournament leader Stricker made a triple bogey at No. 7 today, it halted his bogey-free streak at 45 holes. Stricker's last hiccup had come on the 15th hole at SilverRock in Round 2. He then negotiated the third and fourth rounds without a bogey.

• Sunday's windy conditions turned the otherwise benign Palmer Private Course into a much different layout. Here are the scoring conditions for each of the five rounds at the host course: 67.469 on Wednesday, 68.781 on Thursday, 67.406 on Friday, 68.031 on Saturday and 70.351 on Sunday.

• Ames must love the California desert. Ames, who has earned $1,515,000 in his last three starts in the LG Skins Game (winner in 2006, 2007), shot a 9-under 63 Sunday. His day included a pair of eagles on the par 5s (Nos. 11 and 2) to vault him up the leaderboard. Ames wound up at 27-under par 333 and tied for fourth.

• Rookie Webb Simpson is off to an impressive start in 2009. The 23-year old Wake Forest graduate posted a final-round 69 Sunday to finish tied for fourth, his second straight top-10 finish. Simpson rolled in a short birdie putt on the final hole, which added an additional $54,570 to his pocket. Simpson, who played on the 2008 Nationwide Tour, wound up tied for ninth at last week's Sony Open in Hawaii. Simpson earned $192,270 this week and is currently No. 12 on the money list.

• Scott Piercy saw his bogey-free steak in this event end Sunday. The 30-year-old rookie suffered a bogey on the fifth hole, stopping his streak at 76 holes. Piercy was the only player in the field to negotiate each of the first four rounds without a bogey.

• John Mallinger recorded the third ace of the week during Sunday's final round. Mallinger used a 5-iron on the 183-yard, 3rd hole for his hole-in-one. John Senden and Briny Baird registered aces earlier in the week.

• Mike Weir, the 2003 champion, finished tied for third this week, his first start of the 2009 season. Weir continues where he left off in 2008, when he posted top-10 finishes in six of his final eight starts. Weir also began the 2008 season on a high note with a fourth-place effort at the Mercedes-Benz Championship. He went on to finish No. 6 in the FedExCup standings and No. 14 on the money list, earning $3,020,135 -- the most he's won in a season since 2003, when he triumphed at the Masters and closed the year with $5,624,509 in earnings.

• Cameron Beckman's 6-under 66 featured only four pars Sunday. Beckman had nine birdies, three bogeys, one eagle and one double bogey.