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Mediate wins Frys.com Open

California - Rocco Mediate holed out for eagle for the fourth straight day Sunday, hitting a pitching wedge from 116 yards at the 17th en route to a one-shot victory in the Frys.com Open.

"Do you believe what just happened out there?" said the 47-year-old, who won his sixth US PGA Tour title but his first since 2002. "I have a job again!"

Mediate carded a two-over par 73 for a 15-under total of 269.

He was one stroke in front of Americans Bo Van Pelt (71) and Alex Prugh (69), and secured a two-year exemption on the US tour.

Mediate had a hole-in-one on the par-three third hole on Thursday, holed out from 160 yards Friday on the par-four fourth, and holed out from 111 yards Saturday on the par-five 15th hole.

US Ryder Cup player Rickie Fowler birdied three of his final five holes for a 69 to finish fourth on 271.

"I was walking down the stairs and I heard the roar," Fowler said. "I couldn't see the green but I could tell who the roar was for. It was pretty loud."

Prugh and Van Pelt each birdied the final hole, leaving Mediate a putt to win it outright.

As Mediate and caddie Matthew Achatz looked at the shot, they both saw the same thing.

"He said, 'It's dead straight, knock it in,"' Mediate said. "I nodded and said, 'OK.'"

Mediate said he never saw the ball go into the hole. He turned, flipped his putter out of his hands and hugged Achatz before shaking hands with Prugh and Van Pelt.

"I don't know how to explain it," Mediate said. "Over the past three weeks everything was coming along and I was putting better. Last week I was pretty solid all four rounds and this week went bonkers."

Mediate built a comfortable lead through three days of warm, sunny weather.

When clouds and chilly ran moved in on Sunday, it wreaked havoc on his back. Mediate was five-over through 13 holes and lost the lead at the 15th.

"The weather was tough on everybody," he said. "I don't do well with the cool and damp stuff. It was hard for me to move. My back wasn't sore but it was stiff. I couldn't hit it where I was looking."

But Mediate's determination to tough it out paid off.

"I told Matthew at 12 I was not going to miss any more fairways," Mediate said. "I made a big putt on 14 just to stay alive."

Mediate drained an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th, then regained the lead at 17.

Prugh, a rookie who notched his first top-10 finish since opening the season with top 10s in three of his first four events, came within a couple feet of a hole-in-one on 17.

"I had Alex mark his ball because you just never know," Mediate said. "I was going for it, thinking I wanted a birdie. Then I made a shot Mr. (Lee) Trevino taught me."

That's when fans began chanting "Rocco! Rocco!"

"I had signed up for tour school," Mediate said. "That's where I belonged until a half-hour ago."

Mediate still plans to play in two more tournaments as the season comes to a close.

"And then I'm going to rest," he said.

Leading final scores on Sunday in the Frys.com Open (USA unless noted):

269 - Rocco Mediate 64-65-67-73

270 - Alex Prugh 69-66-66-69, Bo Van Pelt 65-69-65-71

271 - Rickie Fowler 69-65-68-69

272 - Chris Tidland 70-65-68-69

274 - Tim Clark (RSA) 68-69-66-71, Graham Delaet (CAN) 68-68-71-67, David Duval 68-65-71-70, Ryuji Imada (JPN) 65-67-69-73, Will MacKenzie 66-68-71-69, Kevin Stadler 71-67-67-69, Charles Warren 71-65-67-71

275 - Chad Campbell 68-70-66-71, Tim Herron 67-67-70-71, Dean Wilson 69-64-70-72

...

276 - Fredrik Jacobson (SWE) 70-67-70-69

279 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 69-70-71-69

280 - Aaron Baddeley (AUS) 70-65-70-75

282 - Henrik Stenson (SWE) 67-67-80-68

283 - Richard S. Johnson (SWE) 70-72-73-68, Andres Romero (ARG) 71-69-76-67

284 - Andrew McLardy (RSA) 74-68-66-76, Charlie Wi (KOR) 70-65-72-77

285 - Brian Davis (GBR) 71-70-69-75

286 - Stuart Appleby (AUS) 70-72-70-74, James Nitties (AUS) 76-66-72-72

287 - Aron Price (AUS) 72-70-72-73

289 - Mathew Goggin (AUS) 72-70-70-77

290 - John Daly 70-70-68-82

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