Tour rookie Chesson Hadley held his nerve to claim the season-ending Web.com Tour Championship by two strokes.
Hadley carded a final round of 69 to finish ahead of Brendon Todd, Brad Fritsch, John Peterson and Scott Gardiner.
Hadley had started the final round at Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida a shot behind Gardiner.
But three birdies in the opening five holes saw Hadley move clear and although he struggled over the back nine he was able to claim his second win of the year.
Hadley dropped four shots coming home but two birdies held off the challenge of Todd, Fritsch and Paterson - who carded rounds of 65, 66 and 67 respectively.
Gardiner, though, endured a disappointing day as his challenge ended with a two-over 72.
"This is incredible. I have no idea what happened," Hadley told pgatour.com.
"It was blackout golf out there today and I was just trying not to puke on myself on the way in, even though I tried to."
The win means Hadley is assured of a PGA Tour card for next season, although he was denied automatic qualification for the Players Championship due to Paterson's second-placed finish.
Paterson's payday of $66,000 saw him finish $567 ahead of Hadley at the top of the Web.com Tour Finals money list.