Piercy hangs on for PGA Reno-Tahoe victory

Scott Piercy wasted a three-stroke lead but held on and made a seven-foot par putt on the final hole to win the US PGA Tour's Reno-Tahoe Open by one stroke. Piercy on Sunday carded a final-round two-under par 70 for a 15-under total of 273 and a one-stroke victory over Pat Perez. Piercy claimed his first US PGA Tour title and insured his stellar 11-under 61 in Saturday's third round wasn't in a losing cause. Piercy led by three strokes through 11 holes. But after Perez birdied the par-four 12th and par-five 13th Piercy bogeyed the 365-yard, par-four 14th, where he tried to drive the green but his ball hit a cart path and rocketed 30 yards left. Perez was tied for the lead with two holes remaining, but fell back with a bogey at the 17th, where he missed an eight-foot par putt. Piercy's worries weren't over. Arriving at the final hole with a one-shot lead, he belted his drive 387 yards but it ran to the left and into desert scrub. After helping playing partner Josh Teater look for his wayward drive in the sage on the other side of the fairway, Piercy knocked his own ball into the fairway, then pitched onto the green some 30 feet from the pin. Needing only a two-putt at the par-five to win, he rolled his first attempt seven feet past -- but made it coming back to seal the victory. "Having to 2-putt is not easy," Piercy said. Along with a $540,000 winner's prize, Pierce claimed a place in the PGA Championship, the last major championship of the season that starts on Thursday in Atlanta. "We had vacation planned next week. Now I've got to cancel," he joked. Perez carded a 68 for 274, his third runner-up finish to go with one career victory on the US tour.