LAS VEGAS — Bob Estes thought he had to shoot 63 to win for the third time on the PGA Tour. He did, but not before an adventure with a desert bush and a par he never expected.
Estes made nine birdies and nine pars, rallying from five shots back Sunday to win the Invensys Classic at Las Vegas. The birdies were routine, but the par at No. 6 will be something he'll remember just as much as the win.
"It was one of the most amazing holes I've played in my life," Estes said after beating Tom Lehman and Rory Sabattini by a shot.
Estes punched a choked-down driver out of a bush in the desert to keep alive his slim hopes, then played nearly flawless the rest of the way for a 9-under 63 that was good enough for a one-stroke win.
"I don't think anybody can call me conservative anymore," Estes said. "My tournament was one shot away from being over when I hit that shot."
Estes had made three birdies to get in contention when he hit a 3-wood off the tee into the desert to the left of the sixth fairway. When he got to his ball, he found it perched waist high in the middle of a bush.
If he declared it unplayable and hit another tee shot, he was looking at least at a double-bogey. If he tried to play it, he might whiff or leave it in the bush.
Estes figured his only chance was to give it a try.
"If I was going to have a chance to win the golf tournament, I was going to have to try and pull that shot off someway," he said. "I didn't know if I could make contact with the ball or not."
Estes pulled out his driver, choked up and swung at the bush. The ball dribbled out over the cart path into the rough. From there, he hit a 9-iron under one tree and over another to 45 feet, then made the curling downhill putt for par.
"I'm not even positive I hit the ball," he said. "I think the bush just propelled it forward."
Estes went on to take the lead for good with a two-putt birdie on 16, taking advantage of a mistake by Lehman on the same hole for his second win of the year.
It was the 17th consecutive round in the 60s for Estes, who played four of five rounds — including the final two — without a bogey. Before the round began, he said he thought a 63 was his best chance of winning.
Estes, who won the FedEx St. Jude Classic earlier this year and finished fourth and second in his last two tournaments, finished at 30-under for the five rounds.
Playing in the next-to-last group, Estes birdied nine of his first 16 holes to get the lead, then made two routine pars to win the $810,000 first prize, the biggest check of his career.
Lehman stood in the fairway watching Estes two-putt on the par-5 16th for his final birdie, which put him a shot ahead. Lehman had a chance to tie but hit a 4-iron thin from 218 yards, and it landed some 20 yards short of the green in the water.
Lehman salvaged par, then missed birdie putts of about 20 feet on the final two holes at TPC at Summerlin to finish with a 66.
Davis Love III finished fourth with a course-record 61, which might have been even better. Love was 10 under for the day and had two possible eagle holes in front of him in the reachable par-4 15th and the par-5 16th.
WORLD MATCH PLAY: Ian Woosnam rallied to beat Padraig Harrington 2 and 1 to become, at 43, the oldest World Match Play champion.
SENIOR TRANSAMERICA: Sammy Rachels made a 30-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to cap a final-round 69 and win The Transamerica by one stroke over Raymond Floyd (64) and Doug Tewell (66).
Rachels' 14-under 202 total gave him his second win on the Senior PGA Tour.
SCHNEITER WINS WESTERN PGA CLUB: Sandy's Steve Schneiter won the Western PGA Club Professional Championship by eight shots Sunday at the PGA of Southern California Golf Club in Calimesa, Calif.
The 38-year-old Schneiter earned $20,000 and a spot in the national CPC event next summer in Kentucky with the convincing victory. He shot 65-78-67-66 for a 12-under 276 total, including two eagles in his final round.
Three other Utahns also qualified for the national CPC tournament.
Ogden's Jimmy Blair tied for sixth at 292, American Fork's Kim Thompson tied for 10th at 294 and Sandy's Milan Swilor tied for 13th at 295. The top 25 players qualified for the national CPC, where the top 25 will qualify for next year's PGA Tournament.
BUY.COM GILA RIVER CLASSIC: Farmington's Boyd Summerhays, who turned professional in August, tied for 59th place Sunday at the Buy.com Gila River Classic in Chandler, Ariz. Summerhays earned $1,275 after shooting a four-round total of 4-under-par 280 with rounds of 68, 69, 71 and 72.