|
 Bae carded a final round of 73 to finish on 15-under-par 273 at
Silverado Country Club in the opening event of the 2014-15 season on
the PGA Tour.
Australian Steven Bowditch (67), boosted by an eagle at the par-five
16th, finished second on 13-under.
Bae posted four bogeys in a seven-hole stretch mid-round but the
28-year-old held on to take the win and pocket $1.08 million for his
second victory on the PGA Tour.
He also has 12 international wins.
Bae built a six-shot lead early in the final round but made the
mistake of looking at the leaderboard as a mixture of nerves and
excitement got the better of him as he frittered away most of his
advantage.
However, none of his closest rivals could launch a serious challenge
and Bae had the luxury of missing a series of short putts without
ever letting his lead dip below two strokes in demanding, breezy
conditions.
"Sometimes I felt excited too much and sometimes nervous, and
sometimes lost focus a little," he told reporters.
"I didn't want to look at the scoreboards, but I did. I looked a
lot. That's why I made a lot of bogeys on the back nine."
It was Bae's first top-10 finish since he won the Byron Nelson
Championship in May of last year, but he expressed confidence that
this latest success would be the first of many.
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"After the first win, I didn't play well last year," he added. "I
was very frustrated, very anxious and nervous, but now I've got the
second one, I think third and fourth will come easy since I have the
confidence."
Bae said he hoped to earn a spot on the International team for the
Presidents Cup to be played in his homeland next year and also
wanted to represent South Korea when golf returns to the Olympic
program in 2016.
(Reporting By Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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