Twenty-three-year-old Patrick Reed labeled himself one of American golf’s up-and-coming stars by winning for the second time in his first 46 PGA Tour starts, cruising to a two-shot victory at the Humana Challenge in La Quinta, California.  Though Reed’s closing round of 71 left the door ajar enough for a few moments of semi-interest down the stretch, the victory margin was misleadingly close, for he had begun Sunday’s final round with an imposing seven-shot lead, and runner-up Ryan Palmer eagled the 72nd hole to pull within two.  Reed’s first three days, however, were epic, as he became the first man ever to better 64 for three straight PGA Tour rounds by carding a trio of 63s over the events three course rota.  His 189 total not only built what proved to be an insurmountable lead but also set a Tour record for the lowest 54-hole score relative to par at an eye-popping 27 under.  Playing conditions in the Southern California desert were ideal throughout the week, thus when Reed barely bettered par on Sunday, both Zach Johnson (the Tour’s hottest player, who closed with a scorching 62) and veteran Justin Leonard (65) were able to at least creep within shouting distance.  But only when Palmer scored his final eagle (for a 63 of his own) did Reed’s lead ever lip to less than three strokes………………Battling down to the wire against the two highest ranked players in the field, Spain’s Pablo Larrazabal claimed his third career European Tour victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, edging Phil Mickelson and Rory McIlroy by one.  Though Larrazabal played solid, steady golf en route to a closing 67, he had a bit of help down the stretch, especially from Mickelson who double-hit a recovery shot on the 13th hole and posted a triple-bogey seven, dropping him rather abruptly from the tournament lead to three shots in arrears.  The world number five nearly managed a spectacular comeback, however, recording three birdies over the final five holes before ultimately coming up one shy.  McIlroy too had chances to win, failing to hole a number of makeable birdie putts on the final nine, then finally carding a birdie at the par-5 finisher when it was an eagle that was required.  McIlroy’s prospects had already been dimmed on Saturday evening when a two-stroke penalty assessed after the round for an illegal drop at the 2nd hole moved him from one to three shots off the lead, a deficit he was ultimately unble to recover from.  Larrazabal, for his part, proved himself quite capable under pressure, logging birdies at the 11th and 13th to move into the lead, then recording a clutch two-putt birdie to close the door on his pursuers at the 567-yard par-5 18th………………Local Hua Hin native Prayad Marksaeng scored a popular hometown victory by rallying from a three-shot 54 hole deficit to win the King’s Cup behind Sunday’s low round (a six-under-par 66) in a January event that closed out the Asian Tour’s official 2013 schedule.  Also a winner of his nation’s Queen’s Cup earlier in the 2013 season, Marksaeng’s completion of the Thai royalty double also represented his eighth career victory on the Asian circuit.  After making the Sunday turn in two-under-par 34 but still trailing Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg by two, Marksaeng birdied the par-4 10th and chipped in for eagle at the par-5 13th, the latter combining with a Karlberg bogey to finally move the 47-year-old Marksaeng into the lead.  He would later add an insurance birdie at the 17th, a gained stroke that would prove important when Karlberg finished birdie-birdie to pull within one.