American Edward Loar won the Panama Championship on Sunday for his first Nationwide Tour title, closing with a four-over 74 for one-stroke victory over four players including Australian Cameron Percy.

The 34-year-old left-hander, four strokes ahead entering the final round, survived a triple-bogey 7 on the seventh hole and had only two birdies in the final round – the last on the par-4 16th.

He finished at 4-under 276 and earned $US99,000.

Percy, Ryan Armour, Luke List and Brian Smock tied for second.

Percy finished with a 67, Armour and List shot 68 and Smock had a 69.

Loar has two victories on the Asian Tour, winning the 2003 Thailand Open and 2004 Korean Open.

“The triple was just bad shots followed by bad shots,” Loar said.

“I was thinking I was glad I had a four-shot lead to start with. I obviously let a lot of people back in the tournament.”