Tiger Woods and caddy Steve Williams look on from the 15th hole during the final round of the Nissan Open at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles on Sunday. (AFP)

Los Angeles: After squandering a seven-stroke lead, Mike Weir made a crucial chip shot on the 18th hole and then tapped in for par to defend his Nissan Open title by one shot over Shigeki Maruyama on Sunday.

Canada’s Weir, the reigning Masters champion, shot an even-par 71 in rainy conditions to finish on 17-under 267 at the Riviera Country Club, while Japan’s Maruyama fell just short after posting a battling 67.

With the two locked in a tie for the lead on the 72nd hole, the left-handed Weir executed a 47-foot chip superbly off a hill from a wet lie left of the final green to within a foot.

He then holed out for his first victory in 10 months after his playing partner missed a par attempt from above the hole.

“Luckily enough I caught a good lie,” Weir said of his position on the bank next to the 18th green. “That was the story all week, my short game really held me in there. I made a lot of key up-and-downs so it was fitting that I got it up-and-down to win.”

Australia’s Mercedes Championships winner Stuart Appleby shot a five-under-par 66 to finish alone in third on 14-under-par, just ahead of two of the tour’s longest hitters.

John Daly, last week’s surprise Buick Invitational champion, made a birdie on the 18th to finish on 13-under-par, while Hank Kuehne missed a birdie putt on the same hole to end the tournament a further stroke adrift. Kirk Triplett, the 2002 Nissan champion, fired a three-under 68 to vault up to sixth place on 11-under-par.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods, Jay Williamson and J.J. Henry finished in a tie for seventh at 10-under-par. Woods recovered from his poor third round 72 to shoot a seven-under-par 64 and move 37 places up the leaderboard.

Weir had never won a tournament the previous five attempts when he led through 54 holes and his five-stroke advantage at the start of the final round was the widest on the PGA Tour since last year’s Texas Open.

He birdied the first and third holes to extend his lead over Maruyama to seven shots but could not sustain the pace.

At the turn, Weir's lead was back to five strokes and dwindling fast. A birdie by Maruyama on the short par-four 10th against a bogey by Weir trimmed the lead to three shots.

While Weir could not help his cause on the back nine — making two bogeys, Maruyama added further pressure with birdies on the 10th, 15th and 16th holes. The last birdie tied Maruyama with Weir for the lead.

In the end, the rain and the pressure was too much for Japan's best player. “It was a good game and at the last hole I was trying to hit the ball farther because it started raining the last three holes and I thought I wouldn’t be able to make the green,” Maruyama said.

Meanwhile, for Woods, the round was his lowest ever at the Riviera and his lowest of the 2004 campaign but the world number one was never in serious contention to capture the title.

While he finally found his game following a month-long layoff after the season-opening Mercedes Championships, what remains unclear is whether Woods can sustain the improvement over four rounds.

“Yes, isn’t that amazing,” Woods responded wryly when asked about playing well with the pressure off. “Today, I hit the ball closer to the cup and made a few putts. More importantly, I hit my irons better.”

“I set myself a goal of either getting into the top 10 or, failing that, build some positive momentum going into next week considering we might not be able to play many practice rounds,” Woods said. (Reuters)