Loren Roberts survived a battle on the final hole yesterday to win The ACE Group Classic in Naples, Fla., becoming the first golfer to open a Champions Tour season with three wins.

Roberts parred the last 12 holes, and 60-year-old Hale Irwin put his approach shot in the water on the closing hole at The Club at TwinEagles.

Playing in the group behind Irwin, Roberts two-putted from 35 feet to clinch the victory with a final-round 69 and 14-under 202 total — one shot ahead of Brad Bryant and R.W. Eaks.

Bryant birdied the last hole to finish with a 70, and Eaks had a 67 despite missing a birdie putt at the last hole. Irwin double-bogeyed No. 18 after hitting a 7-iron from 162 yards into the water in front of the green for a 68, and tied for fourth with Tom Watson (67) at 204.

Don January, in 1981, and Larry Nelson, in 2001, each opened a season on the Champions Tour with two consecutive wins.

"The three wins this year, they've all come different ways," said Roberts, who won on the Big Island and at Turtle Bay to open the Champions Tour season. "This one was definitely done with an ugly stick. It was a pretty ugly back nine today, but I holed a couple of putts when I had to."

The record for consecutive victories on the tour is four by Chi Chi Rodriguez in 1987. Roberts, 50, who won his fourth tournament in nine tour events, joins Bob Charles (1987), Lee Trevino (1992), Gil Morgan (1997-98) and Craig Stadler (2004) in winning three consecutive events on the tour.

"I wanted to put a little mark somewhere in the record books," Roberts said. "I did think about that a little bit on the back nine."

PGA TOUR

SABBATINI VICTORIOUS

South Africa's Rory Sabbatini birdied the 16th hole after letting a four-shot lead slip away in the final round of the Nissan Open, recovering for his third career PGA Tour victory and first since 2003.

Sabbatini, 29, was in a four-way tie with Fred Couples, Craig Barlow and defending champion Adam Scott at 12-under-par before making his 5-foot birdie putt at the par-3 16th hole at Riviera Country Club outside Los Angeles.

"There's a lot of mixed emotions," Sabbatini said. "Relief is probably the biggest one."

It was the first birdie in 10 holes for Sabbatini, who shot a 1-over 72 during the final round to finish at 13-under 271 for the tournament.

He closed with consecutive pars to finish one stroke better than Scott, who had moved up the leaderboard with a 7-under 64 today.

Sabbatini received $918,000 for his first PGA win since the 2003 FBR Open. He had runner-up finishes this season at the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and at the Sony Open of Hawai'i.

Castle High alum Dean Wilson shot a 1-under-par 70 in the final round and finished in a four-way tie for seventh. He earned $153,637.50.