NISSAN OPEN: SABBATINI CLOSES THE DEAL AFTER LOSING LEAD, HE RECOVERS DOWN THE STRETCH FOR VICTORY.

Byline: Dave Shelburne Staff Writer

PACIFIC PALISADES - Riviera Country Club fan favorite Fred Couples gave notice early Sunday that he would be charging, and with three holes remaining, final-group playing partner Craig Barlow and early finisher Adam Scott had joined Couples in erasing all of Rory Sabbatini's four-stroke lead.

But Sabbatini, the hottest player through the first six full-field events of the 2006 tour, made every shot he needed down the stretch and came away with a one-stroke victory in the Nissan Open.

His final-round 72 - 1-over par at 7,260-yard Riviera - was the highest final-round score since Tom Purtzer shot that in edging Lanny Wadkins by a stroke in the 1977 edition of this 80-year-old tournament.

More importantly, it was enough to get Sabbatini (67-65-67-72-271) past 2005 Nissan champion Scott, who made up all of a nine-shot final-round deficit before finishing second with a 64 for the day and 272 overall, one shot better than Barlow (70-273) and two ahead of Couples (71-274).

``At the end of the day, I did what I needed to do,'' Sabbatini said.

It wasn't an easy day for the 29-year-old eight-year tour player, who had to overcome a final round of good shots turned bad, missed putting opportunities and even endured some tweaking from the gallery before regaining the lead for keeps with a four-foot birdie putt in the par-3 16th.

``It was a rough day out there,'' he said. ``There is no denying it. It was definitely the hardest round of golf I've played in my life.''

At the end, he was $918,000 richer and satisfied - as much for a saving par putt on No. 17 and a 44-foot lag that set up 1 14-inch par putt on No. 18 as for the 16th-hole birdie that broke him out of a four-way tie with Couples, Barlow and Scott.

``A lot of mixed emotions right now, a lot of relief,'' Sabbatini said after a win he called ``probably the biggest one'' of his three tour victories.

Scott, who had eight birdies in equaling the low round of the tournament, thought Sabbatini benefited from the confidence of playing well all season - he entered the Nissan with $1.2 million in earnings and two second-place finishes in his first five starts.

``It's totally a game of confidence,'' Scott said. ``Rory has been on the leaderboard every week I've looked this year. When you've got that confidence, you've got to run with it, because who knows how long it's going to last?''

That confidence helped Sabbatini ride out some breaks of the game - a good drive landing in a divot, a good approach spinning off the green into rough, putts that looked good veering off line.

``It seemed like I was hitting the ball well, and every time I felt like I hit a good shot, things were going wrong,'' Sabbatini said.

One shot he thought was good, judging from the reaction around the green, was his approach that spun off the putting surface on No. 13.

``But I was wrong. That was Freddie Couples' support group. They were cheering it rolling off the green,'' Sabbatini said.

``There were a lot of snide remarks out there,'' Sabbatini said of a gallery that was rooting hard for Couples, a longtime Riviera fan favorite who has won the tournament twice and had 11 top-10 finishes in 25 appearances in the Nissan.

Sabbatini said he could understand the support for Couples, that he had been a big fan of Couples when he was growing up in South Africa, and regarded him as one of the nicest players in the game.

``But, you know, give the other guys a chance. Don't be rude,'' he said.

Scott, who seemed to give himself plenty of chances with a blistering back nine that included five birdies, said afterward that going into the final round, he didn't expect to challenge with anything less than a 61.

``I didn't play with any pressure like these guys in the lead,'' he said of the final group of Sabbatini, Couples and Barlow. ``It was a much tougher day for them. But, you know, I was very pleased with the round to get back in it.''

Couples, 46, was pleased to get as close as he did in one of his favorite tournaments, which produced a 66-72-65-71 effort from the 25-year tour veteran.

``I played well for three days,'' he said. ``I played well for 68 holes. I just didn't play well for the four more.''

His game started to slip on the 487-yard, par-4 15th hole, two holes after he had caught Sabbatini at 13-under par. Couples hit his drive on No. 15 into the left rough, then pulled his approach left and took bogey but remained tied for the lead when Sabbatini also bogeyed the hole.

But Couples then bogeyed the par-3 16th after hitting his tee shot into a bunker, and finished with another bogey on No. 18 to finish fourth.

``It wasn't that nerve-wracking,'' he said of his final-round charge, ``because it was my favorite course. But toward the end, they were pretty hard shots, and I didn't hit them.''

Dave Shelburne, [phone]

dave.shelburne(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

1 -- cover -- color) RORY TO THE FINISH

Sabbatini survives scare to win Nissan Open

(2) Rory Sabbatini lines up his putt on the 18th on Sunday during the final round of the Nissan Open. Sabbatini won by a stroke over Adam Scott.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) ROUND OF THE DAY:

(2) HACKER OF THE DAY:

(3) QUOTE OF THE DAY: