RENO, Nev. — Honolulu's Parker McLachlin didn't expect to even play in the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, let alone come away with his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Now he's secured a spot in this week's PGA Championship at Oakland Hill and, perhaps more important to him, an invite to the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship next January in his home state of Hawai'i.

"I used to go over there and work that golf tournament picking the range, spending the week over there when I was 13, 14 years old being a standard bearer," said McLachlin, 29, who held on with a 2-over-par 74 yesterday to win the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open at 18-under 270 — seven strokes better than Brian Davis and John Rollins.

"I can vividly remember being a standard bearer for Fred Couples. I just idolized those guys and to be part of that fraternity, I just can't express it," McLachlin said. "It has been a dream of mine since I was about 12."

The Punahou School and UCLA alum, who is in his second year on tour, began the final round with a six-shot lead after tying the course record of 62 on Friday and setting a 54-hole mark of 20-under par at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf & Country Club near Lake Tahoe.

He extended it to seven after three holes yesterday, but the nerves tightened when he saw it shrink to four with seven holes to play before escaping trouble several times down the stretch and dropping a 15-foot putt on the 18th for his lone birdie of the day.

"I was fortunate to have that big cushion because I needed it," McLachlin said. "Brian was putting the heat on and I was feeling it.

"It was not my best ball striking day but it really brought out my short game and just my heart. I just had to gut it out and sometimes that's what you have to do to get the job done."

England's Davis trailed by four strokes with five holes to go but had a double bogey and two bogeys down the stretch to shoot a 75. A shot back tied for fourth were Martin Laird (66), Harrison Frazar (69), Eric Axley (69) and Ryan Palmer (70).

Davis said he thought he had a chance because McLachlin was "really struggling with his game."

"I always knew on the back nine it was going to be tough. I've been there before," Davis said. "I got a couple up on him, then I got unlucky. I got a plug lie in the bunker and made double on 14 and that was it then, it was gone."

McLachlin hit only one of his first 10 greens in regulation — only five for the round — but relied on his wedge and putter to save par at least 10 times, including a 12-footer after he had driven into the rough behind large pine trees on the par-4 fifth and a 9-footer after blasting out of a greenside bunker on the sixth.

"When everything else fails, I have 100 percent confidence I'm going to make putts and today everything else failed," he said. "That's how I've gutted it out throughout my career and that's what I did today."

With the top 50 golfers in the world playing at the Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio, McLachlin entered the week ranked 98th on the money list, but the $540,000 first-place check at Reno gives him $1.28 million on the year to move up to 53rd on the money list, 47th in FedExCup points.

McLachlin joins four others who claimed their first PGA wins at Reno — Notah Begay III (1998), Chris Riley (2002), Vaughn Taylor (2004) and Will MacKenzie (2006).