Bill Nichols

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IRVING – The week began with the arrest of a man speeding on the par-5 No. 7 fairway. Pavilion-bound fans left an ice cream stand on the No. 1 green after the third round. And the final round included a young man running across No. 17 wearing only briefs.

With calm conditions, players also took liberties with the TPC Four Seasons at Las Colinas. Blink and you missed somebody holing out from 170 yards.

Is it any surprise that the last man standing above the bedlam would be one who's often the center of commotion?

With record scores being thrown down, Fort Worth's Rory Sabbatini hardly blinked. Rather, he thrived on the electric atmosphere. Leading by two strokes with two holes to play, he bucked conventional thinking. He sent an 8-iron shot toward the flag on the dangerous par-3 flanked by water.

His ball plopped down eight feet from the hole, he made the birdie putt, and "Rory's Rowdies" erupted. He walked to the 18th tee with the HP Byron Nelson Championship in his back pocket.

With a final-round 64, Sabbatini won by two strokes over Brian Davis. His 19-under 261 broke the tournament record and made him the 14th player to win the Nelson and the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

"That's one of the things I've always been struggling with in my career – to try and maintain consistency. It's nice to see that consistency is starting to develop."

For Sabbatini, the win satisfied on many levels. He wore a pink bow on his black cap to show support for Phil Mickelson's wife, Amy, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. He talked emotionally afterward about a friend from Atlanta who is fighting cancer. And he has been a big fan of Byron Nelson's, evidenced by his hug of Peggy Nelson by the 18th green.

"This tournament is very special," Sabbatini said. "It's one I wish I had been able to win and looked up to see Byron sitting there on the 18th green. It would have meant a lot. But Peggy being here was special, and his name and his legend lives on."

As the bagpiper blew his pipes and Sabbatini scooted up the hill to sign his scorecard, thunder clapped and light rain started to fall. Much of the gallery on 18 headed for the exits, missing the award ceremony.

But the hard rain never came, and by the time Sabbatini had come back to accept his trophy, the rain had stopped and the skies had cleared.

Of course, the large, vocal contingent of Sabbatini fans wearing black "Rory's Rowdy Roadies" T-shirts stuck through the brief bout of rain, showing their support.

"It was a lot of fun to have that much support out there," Sabbatini said. "It means a lot, and I've taken my fair share of beating from the public in the past."

Sabbatini, who started the day tied with John Mallinger, took an aggressive approach to protecting his lead. His 64 was the second-lowest final round by a winner. Peter Thomson shot 63 in 1956. The 64 also equaled the lowest final round by a winner this season, matching Brian Gay at the Heritage Classic.

Sabbatini got his fifth victory, and first since the 2007 Colonial, by making 26 birdies, four more than the next closest, Dustin Johnson. He averaged 25.1 putts per round, tying for first in that category.

More than anything, he played his highly charged, emotional game.

"I like Rory," Davis said. "Anybody you play with who has fire in their belly, I like that. That's me. I like to get fired up, and I like playing with him."