A Timely Beer Break for Pate : Golf: He wins San Diego tournament after beverage container stops his wild shot on 17 and enables him to save par.

While the gallery was taking a pounding from errant golf shots in the final round of the Buick Invitational of California at Torrey Pines Sunday, Steve Pate profited from a wild shot at No. 17.

Pate, a self-proclaimed slasher and hacker, had a ball end up in a spectator’s 12-pack beer container.

He got a drop, chipped close and saved the par, then went to record an “ugly” birdie on No. 18 to win by one stroke.

“Most of my rounds aren’t works of art anyway,” Pate said. “I kind of just slash it, go find it and then try and hit some putts.”

Pate, who won this tournament when it was called the Shearson Lehman Hutton-Andy Williams Open in 1988, posted a 67 in Santa Ana conditions on Sunday and was 16-under-par 200 in the fog-shortened three-day event to beat Chip Beck, who finished a shot behind.

Pate had the third-round lead in last year’s tournament, but after his tee shot landed in a bunker, he scattered the wildlife alongside No. 7, took a seven and finished in a tie for fifth with a closing 74.

“I expected to win here last year,” he said, “but I let it get away and I felt awful about that.”

Now it’s Beck’s turn to feel badly. Beck, who began the day four shots behind the leaders, missed a birdie opportunity on the final hole and settled for a 66.

He attempted to reach the par-five, 498-yard finishing hole over water with two drivers, but his second shot landed in the gallery to the right of the green.

He chose to lift the ball from the trampled grass, but it came out low, ran hard past the pin and off the front edge. His return chip for a birdie fell inches short, and so did his chances of advancing to a playoff.

“I figured it would take a lot of luck for me to get in,” said Beck, who tied for second here in 1984. “I’ve had two chances to win here on the last hole; maybe the third time will be the charm.”

Chris Tucker hit a marshal in the nose on No. 18 with his second shot, and Robert Wrenn drilled a spectator in the chest on the same hole, but both went on to tie Steve Elkington, who made an eagle on the final hole, for third at 14-under.

Mike Springer, who was tied for the tournament lead after 16 holes at 16-under-par, found the canyon on No. 17, and then after teeing off again and hitting his next shot, he almost hit a youngster in a stroller. Springer collected a triple-bogey 7 and finished at 13-under, along with Tom Watson and five others.

“We helped Pate win it,” said Del Mar’s Jeff Fosburg, the proud owner of the beer container. “The ball hit off my elbow and rolled into the 12-pack. If it doesn’t hit me and stop there, it rolls on the hard pack another 20 or 30 yards down a slope, and he’s forced into a playoff.

“I offered Pate a beer, but he wanted them all. I don’t think it would be out of line to ask for 2% of his winnings. After all, we had a part in it.”

Fosburg and friends settled for an autograph from Pate, and the winner walked off with $180,000 and his fifth victory on the PGA Tour.

When Pate rolled a tricky downhill putt in on No. 18 for a birdie, he had no idea he had clinched the victory. He thought he was battling to make a playoff with Springer & Co.

“I just tried to hit it is hard as I could off the tee,” Pate said. “The hole was playing long, and I had to launch it to make it in two. I hit it right--as I always do--in the bunker, and then lifted out to within 102 yards of the stick.

“It was almost identical to what I had on that hole the last time I won here. I hit a solid wedge, but the line wasn’t very good, and I wasn’t very happy.”

While Johnny Miller was telling an NBC-TV audience that almost nobody makes that twisting 15-foot putt on No. 18, Pate slipped it in.

“I had to make it. I didn’t know what happened to Springer,” Pate said. “I was just assuming he was going to par 17. I thought I had an outside chance to win, but I figured it would be in a playoff. I had signed my scorecard before I knew what was going on.”

Springer had pulled out a driver on the par-four, 425-yard No. 17 after recording birdies on Nos. 15 and 16 for the lead, and he had smacked his ball into the jungle. He found it, but could not win a favorable ruling and a chance to hit it from a clearing in the brush. He walked back to the tee and reloaded.

“A three-wood really wasn’t enough club off the tee,” said Pate in defense of Springer. “You really have to hit driver on No. 17. It’s a tough tee shot.”

Pate began play two shots behind Springer, Watson and Brad Faxon.

Pate now moves on to the Riviera Country Club for the Nissan Los Angeles Open this week in a 1992 Buick.