Reed holds on to win Humana Challenge

Patrick Reed lost his putting touch for a few hours in the final round of the Humana Challenge. Then, just when things were getting interesting, he found it.

After shooting three 9-under-par 63s to open a seven-stroke lead, Reed had a 1-under 71 yesterday at PGA West's Arnold Palmer Private Course in La Quinta, Calif., to beat Ryan Palmer by two strokes.

"To come out and not have my full game and to have that much of a cushion to be able to just coast in, that's a good feeling," Reed said.

Finally resembling the guy who talked Saturday of being in a "putting coma," Reed made an 18-footer for birdie on the par-3 15th to lead by three strokes and parred the last three holes. He finished the wire-to-wire win at 28-under 260.

Palmer made a 15-foot eagle putt on the final hole for a 63.

"It was tough out there," Reed said. "I started toward the end playing for par, just because I knew pars weren't going to hurt me. I knew someone was going to have to do something spectacular to catch me."

Reed, 23, has two victories in his first 46 PGA Tour starts. He was projected to jump from 73rd to 42nd in the world rankings, enough to lock up a spot in next month's 64-man Match Play Championship field.

On Saturday, Reed broke the PGA Tour record for relation to par for the first 54 holes, finishing at 27 under. He also became the first player in Tour history to open with three rounds of 63 or better.

"What can you do with what Patrick did this week?" Palmer said. "Amazing how good he played. We'll come up a couple short, but it was a win in my game because I was playing for second today."

Zach Johnson and Justin Leonard tied for third at 25 under. Johnson birdied the final five holes for a 62, the week's best round. Leonard shot a 65.

Larrazabal wins in Dubai

Spain's Pablo Larrazabal shot a final-round 67 to end a winless drought of nearly three years to capture the Abu Dhabi championship. Larrazabal, 30, won by a stroke with a 14-under 274 on the National Course.

Rory McIlroy (68), who incurred a two-stroke penalty a day earlier, tied for second with Phil Mickelson (69) at 13 under.

"It means a lot to win my third victory on Tour and playing against who I played today," Larrazabal said. "I have just beaten two of the three most talented guys in my era, and in the last era as well, in Phil Mickelson and Rory.''

Mickelson was left counting the cost of incurring a one-shot penalty after a double hit while playing from brush on the 13th hole. The British Open champion, who was leading at the time, finished the hole with a triple-bogey seven.

It was the second time in three years that he let a victory in Abu Dhabi slip away because of a rules violation.

"It happens, it happens,'' Mickelson said, "but it never crossed my mind I might double-hit it. I was just trying to dribble it out of the bush.''