RALEIGH, N.C. -- Brenden Pappas rolled in birdie putts on the final two holes, including a 25-footer on the 18th, to edge out Charlie Wi by one stroke and win The Rex Hospital Open. Pappas, the third-round leader, shot a final-day 69 and finished at 16-under 268 at the Tournament Players Club at Wakefield Plantation.

Wi, who started the day two shots behind, shot a bogey-free, 3-under 68 but still came up short when his 20-foot birdie putt on the last hole bypassed the cup and left the South African-born Pappas in the winner's circle for the first time on American soil.

"I've been dedicated to this, stubbornly, for two months. I've worked hard and my whole preparation has been around winning. I didn't do it before my dad passed (two months ago) and that was something that was difficult for me," said an emotional Pappas, who collected $81,000 for the victory and moved to No. 6 on the Nationwide Tour money list.

Money leader Tripp Isenhour (67) and second-round leader Michael Putnam (68) shared third place at 12-under and four back. Nine players tied for fifth but the final day came down to the final pairing of Pappas and Wi.

Pappas played conservatively on the front nine, making only one birdie and eight pars. A pulled wedge on the 10th left him in an awkward spot and when he failed to "make a miraculous shot" and get up-and-down for par, he dropped to 14-under and tied with Wi, who won the Maybank Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur back in February.

Wi took the lead for the first time with a birdie at No. 12 and the two then traded pars for the next four holes. Pappas stuffed a wedge to within three feet at 17 and made the putt to tie.

"I was conscious about not worrying about the leaderboard," said Pappas, who hit 12 of 14 fairways and 14 greens in regulation. "Walking off 17 I wanted to know where Charlie and I stood relative to the guys who had finished."

When Wi's tee shot on the downhill, 577-yard hole found the trees to the left, the former California Bear was forced to pitch out and was 216 yards away from the cup. Pappas went conservative and decided to lay up and take his chances with a wedge from the fairway.

That's when it happened -- the break that players usually get to win tournaments. Wi's third shot sailed into the creek that cuts across the front of the green, hit a rock, bounced to the back of the green, caught the slope and rolled back to within 20 feet for birdie.

Pappas' wedge stopped some 25 feet short of the cup and so it came down to a pair of putts. "Getting over what happened to Charlie was tough. I mean his ball pitches in the hazard and bounces out onto the green and now I'm out for four," said Pappas. "I stalked that putt from every angle. It took me a while to get my breathing under control and my adrenaline under control after that."

Pappas' uphill putt was perfect and fell gently into the cup, forcing Wi to make his to tie. "I got very lucky to be on the green and have a birdie putt at it," said Wi of his rock-bouncing shot. "It was a double-breaker. Those are tough. Sometimes they go in and sometimes they don't."