Rory Sabbatini puts skin cancer scare behind him to land Florida title

The 34-year-old, instantly recognisable now because of the cowboy hats he wears to protect his face from the sun, won the Honda Classic by one from Korean YE Yang.

Five clear at the start of the final round, Sabbatini held the same lead after eight holes, but then saw it cut to one.

While he bogeyed the ninth and 14th Yang birdied the 13th and short 15th, being only 18 inches away from an ace at the start of the three-hole stretch known as "The Bear Trap".

But Sabbatini responded with a 16-foot birdie putt on the next just before play was briefly halted because of a thunder storm.

On the resumption 2009 winner Yang, who later that season beat Tiger Woods to become Asia's first major champion, saved par from 10 feet at the 17th to keep the pressure on.

He then got up and down from sand for birdie at the 604-yard last, but Sabbatini made a solid par for victory with a closing 70 and nine under aggregate of 271. "I'm just beside myself," he said. "There's been a lot that's occurred since my last win (in 2009) and it's fantastic to be here again."

Earlier Graeme McDowell equalled Sabbatini's two-day-old course record with a six-under 64 that moved him up from 30th to joint sixth on two under. After turning in 33 the Northern Irishman holed from almost 45 feet at the 11th, added another birdie on the 13th and then finished with two more.

He was likely to stay fourth in the world, though, because last week's World Match Play winner Luke Donald was only a stroke behind him following a bogey-free 66.

Lee Westwood had required a top-three placing to regain top spot on the rankings from the resting Martin Kaymer, but that was never on long before he double-bogeyed the 17th. Round in 70, Westwood finished four over par, while Ian Poulter (67) was five over and Rory McIlroy, who closed with scores of 77 and 75, was down on 16 over.

They all now head to Miami for this week's WGC Cadillac Championship. The event won by Ernie Els last year will see Woods' fourth appearance of the season. Sabbatini, up now from 102nd in the world to just outside the top 50, has qualified by climbing into the top 10 on the FedEx Cup standings.