On a day when Tiger Woods slipped meekly among the supporting cast, Kirk Triplett struck a blow for the game's journeymen by capturing the Nissan Open here at the Riviera club. In his 265th US Tour event, the 37-year-old gained a long-awaited breakthrough triumph for top prize of $558,000.

Triplett, a tour player since 1990 and with five second-place finishes, was stunned by a remarkable, 30foot birdie putt on the last from Sweden's Jesper Parnevik. But he responded admirably by holing a treacherous par effort of five feet for victory. "It's an incredible feeling to win on a course with such a great history," he said.

Down Sunset Boulevard, on the approach to this celebrated venue, mansions of the rich and famous carry the chilling warning "Edison Security - armed response." But in a golfing sense, those rivals who might have been expecting such fireworks from Woods yesterday, need not have worried.

Indeed the world number one drifted out of contention as the tournament produced financial windfalls for some decidedly unlikely challengers. And it was largely down to heavy overnight rain, which remained sporadic through the day, worsening the bouncy condition of the greens.

With the soft surfaces vulnerable to heel and spike marks, the more aggressive competitors felt obliged to hit short putts quite firmly to keep them on line. And when these missed the target, the return effort was generally four or five feet past.

The upshot was that Parnevik and Woods both four-putted in the third round on Saturday. And when the Swede three-putted three of the first six greens yesterday, he appeared to be following Woods among the also-rans.

But he gradually battled back into contention, almost driving the green at the 315-yard 10th where he got up and down from a bunker for a birdie three. His key shot, however, was a glorious eight iron of 175 yards to the short 16th, which he birdied from eight feet.

As to events at the last, where a bogey from Triplett would have got Parnevik into a play-off, the Swede said: "He's one of the nicest guys on tour and I was hoping he'd make par. Then I thought `hey, I want to be in a play-off."'

Parnevik's form overall sent a warning to Padraig Harrington, his first round opponent in the $5 million Andersen Consulting World Matchplay on Wednesday. And he is seeking a rather different meeting at La Costa with Ken Schofield, executive director of the European Tour.

Parnevik is angry at the decision to change the qualification for the NEC Invitational. Instead of the 12 members of the Ryder Cup team, invitations will be extended to the top 12 Europeans in the Order of Merit as of August 13th, two weeks before the event. "Obviously I disagree with the decision and I will be hoping for some explanation," he said."

Overnight, tournament favourite Woods seemed to be perfectly-poised for a late charge, only three strokes behind the improbable leader, David Sutherland. But from the outset, Woods's play lacked sparkle.

The 503-yard first, from an extremely elevated tee, is normally a meat and drink two-shotter for a player of his formidable power. But he failed to make an anticipated birdie there, after driving into rough.

After 10 years on tour, Triplett's top cheque was $159,000 for third place at Tucson last year. But this time, he grabbed his chance with the composure of a seasoned champion. This was especially so at the last, where, and after driving into rough, he made a wonderful up and down from 30 yards for a closing par.

Meanwhile, Ireland's lone representative, Darren Clarke, headed out of here on Saturday morning after adding a 74 on Friday to a first round 73 to miss the cut by six strokes. And his travel plans reflected the seriousness of his intent in this week's Andersen Consulting World Matchplay at La Costa.

When offered the choice by his manager, Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, of going directly to La Costa or heading to Las Vegas for a coaching session with Butch Harmon, Clarke declined the bright lights.

Clarke said: "It means I'm going to get in a few extra days' practice and while I played there last year, I had only one competitive round." That was on the opening day when, as the 15th seed, he lost on the 18th to eventual runner-up Andrew Magee in the first round.

Losing out on any share of the $3.1 million prize fund at Riviera is eased by the knowledge of a guaranteed $25,000 at La Costa.