The second event of the new PGA Tour season began with an explosive 11-under par 60 by J.J. Henry, but it ended with a surgically precise six-stroke victory by Webb Simpson.

Simpson, who hadn’t won since his breakthrough victory at the 2012 U.S. Open, trailed Henry by four strokes on Thursday evening. But he followed up his first-round 64 with a Friday 63 to take the lead, which he did not relinquish at any point during the weekend.

The captain’s pick for the U.S. side at this year’s Presidents Cup marked down 28 birdies over the course of his four-round journey to victory, and served notice that he would not go winless in this year’s new wrap-around PGA Tour schedule.

Low numbers didn’t enter the witness protection program on Sunday at TPC Summerlin. Both Freddie Jacobson and Luke Guthrie signed for 7-under 64s before Simpson trudged up the No. 9 fairway. Simpson’s four-shot lead going into Sunday put pressure on fellow Raleigh native Chesson Hadley, who was paired with Simpson in the final round.

Fresh off a win at the Web.Com Tour Championship at TPC Sawgrass, Hadley’s first foray into final-round Big Tour pressure was uneven. A Georgia native, he began with two bogeys in his first five holes, but then righted the ship with birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 to return to even for the day. A disastrous double-bogey 7 on the par-five No. 9 ended the rookie’s hopes for a maiden victory at Las Vegas.

No. 9 served as a compass for how a veteran champion remains patient despite adversity, while the rookie tends to fold. Simpson spent his time from tee to green in the rough, but somehow coaxed a 14-foot putt home for a birdie four on the 563-yard hole. Hadley also found the rough multiple times on No. 9, but he was unable to advance the ball early and often, ultimately three-putting from 20 feet for a 7.

Troy Matteson made an unimaginable run at the lead with seven consecutive birdies, from holes No. 9 to 15. He could muster no more, however, and equaled the 64s posted earlier by Jacobson and Guthrie. Charley Hoffman soon joined the trio of Sunday 7-unders and reached 17-under to seize the clubhouse lead. On the course, Simpson had dropped a shot to regress to 2-under for the round, and Jason Bohn had joined the chase with five birdies in an 8-hole stretch, closing the gap to three slim strokes.

Simpson, as champions do, responded with three birdies over his final six holes to dash any hopes to which Jason Bohn and Ryo Ishikawa (ultimately the two who would tie for second place) clung. Despite their noteworthy, 6-under Sunday rounds, neither Bohn nor Ishikawa were able to do much more than remind Simpson that this was not, in fact, a one-man exhibition.

In other news, after the jarring double bogey on his ninth hole, Chesson Hadley was able to compose himself, post three birdies on the back nine and finish in a tie for fifth place.