LOS ANGELES - Mike Weir wanted to prove he could win with the lead.
By the time he won the Nissan Open on Sunday, it felt like another one of his great comebacks.
A seven-shot lead disappeared in a span of 12 holes. Shigeki Maruyama was charging hard, knocking down the pin with a 3-iron at No. 15 and catching Weir on the next hole with a 6-iron that never left the flag.
Then the came rain, hard and steady, making the decisive, 475-yard 18th hole at Riviera play even longer.
"You have to dig deep," Weir said. "I was able to do that."
Right when it seemed as through he was going to let a big one get away, the Canadian answered with the best chip of the tournament with the wedge. From the side of a grassy hill, Weir nearly holed the 45-foot chip and tapped in for par and a one-stroke victory.
The Masters champion, who had won his previous six PGA Tour events from behind and was 0-for-5 with a 54-hole lead, closed with par 71 and became the first back-to-back winner at Riviera since Corey Pavin in 1994-95.
He finished at 17-under 267 and earned $864,000.
"If you'd have told me at the beginning of the week I'd be tied on the 17th hole, I'd be happy with that," Weir said. "It wasn't maybe what I was expecting at the beginning of the day, but that's the reality now. I just needed to bear down a little bit."
Maruyama, who trailed by seven when Weir chipped in for birdie on No. 3, injected some excitement with one great shot after another that made Weir wipe his brow even before it started raining.
Maruyama's chances ended when he missed the 18th fairway, couldn't reach the green and hit a 50-yard chip 12 feet past the hole. His par putt to force a playoff slid by on the right.
"The last hole I was trying to hit the ball farther because it started raining," Maruyama said. "That was the biggest mistake of my whole week. I'm still not good at playing in the rain. I start practicing in the shower tonight."
It was his only bogey in a final-round 67.
John Daly, coming off his first tour victory in nine years, made six birdies on his final 12 holes for 67 and finished fourth at 271.
Tiger Woods is now 0-for-6 as a professional at Riviera, the only tour course he has played so often without winning. For the second straight year, he saved his best round for when it didn't matter - a career-best 64 at Riviera that moved him up 37 spots into a tie for seventh at 274.
NATIONWIDE TOUR: - Australia's Euan Walters won the Jacob's Creek Open, closing with 3-under 68 for a five-stroke victory in Adelaide, Australia.
EUROPEAN TOUR: Thongchai Jaidee became the first from Thailand to win a tour event, acing the 16th hole en route to a two-stroke victory over Australian Brad Kennedy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
