Palm Coast, FL (Best E Casino) - Ryan Palmer rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt at the 18th hole on Sunday to win the Ginn sur Mer Classic.
It was a timely putt for Palmer, and a timely putt for the tournament.
Plagued by a weekend filled with bad weather, including a pair of weather delays on Sunday, the tournament finished in waning daylight on the soggy Conservatory course.
Palmer's clutch birdie putt at the last hole gave him a one-under 71 for the final round and ensured there wouldn't be a six-way playoff on Monday. He finished at seven-under-par 281, beating five other players by a shot.
Picking up his first win since the 2004 Funai Classic at Walt Disney World, the 32-year-old Texan secured his PGA Tour playing status beyond this season -- something that looked less and less likely as the season came closer to an end.
Palmer entered the tournament 143rd on the money list -- 18 places away from locking up his tour card for next year. He earned $828,000 for the win and moved safely into the top 125 while picking up all the other perks that go along with a victory.
Reminded in the rain that he earned an automatic invitation to January's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship in sunny Hawaii -- a winners-only tournament -- Palmer smiled and said, "That's exciting. That's going to be fun.
"I've been struggling because my stats are so good and I haven't been getting the results," he said. "But I'll tell you what -- what a patient week. It was unbelievable."
Michael Letzig was the last player with a chance to tie Palmer for the lead, but he couldn't make birdie at the 18th despite having just 80 yards to the hole.
Letzig (73) shared second place with George McNeill (69), Nicholas Thompson (69), Vaughn Taylor (70) and Ken Duke (71) at six-under 282. They were among a large group of players who fought for the lead throughout the final round.
Palmer had plenty of chances to give up on his round.
He took a costly one-stroke penalty on the 10th green when he grounded his club and was deemed to have made his ball move illegally. The miscue led to a bogey, and he hit into the water and made double-bogey at the 11th.
Those three dropped shots erased Palmer's two-stroke lead, leaving him trailing by one.
But a spectacular bunker shot that landed within inches of the hole at No. 13 set up a birdie, giving him a share of the lead with the round headed into a three-hour weather delay.
When the round resumed at 3:50 p.m. (et) -- with daylight at a premium -- Palmer played steadily for four holes, making all pars. Play was interrupted again by a heavy rain, but only briefly.
Palmer's par run was interrupted by his closing birdie at the 18th.
He knew the putt was good before the ball even got to the cup, taking several excited steps backward and letting loose a "Whoo!" and pumping his right fist when it did drop in.
Crying during an interview for TV, Palmer said, "This sums it up.
"I poured so much sweat this year, and a lot of tears," said Palmer, who had just three top-10s this season before Sunday's win. "I've just been down and upset, and to finally...I'm speechless. It's unbelievable."
Thirty players finished within five shots of Palmer's winning score -- an unbelievably tight leaderboard that left the outcome up in the air as the tournament finished in the rain and disappearing dusk light.
"It was a long day out there," said Taylor, one of the 30.
Five players shared seventh place at five-under 283: Troy Matteson (68), Brian Gay (69), Tom Scherrer (69), Robert Allenby (71) and John Huston (73).
Peter Lonard, Bob Estes, Jesper Parnevik, Carl Pettersson, Jeff Maggert and Bob Tway were among the other players who finished within a shot of Palmer.
