With Hurricane Wilma steaming towards Florida, Glover fired a final round seven-under 65 at Walt Disney World Resort’s Magnolia Golf Club in Orlando for a winning total of 23-under 265.
“You always see someone tapping in to win or making a 12 footer for birdie and going nuts,” said Glover. “Like I said, I was trying to make par.
“For it to happen that way, it was a lucky shot and everyone can say that because it’s true.
“When it’s your time, it’s your time.”
Pernice finished with a flawless three-under 69 but after a birdie on the par-five 10th, he stalled and closed his round with eight straight pars for a 22-under 266 total.
Briton Justin Rose (68), Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy (69) and Americans defending champion Ryan Palmer (64), Harrison Frazar (68) and 2002 PGA champion Rich Beem (70) all finished two shots adrift in a tie for third on 21-under 267.
Taking advantage of ideal scoring conditions, Glover mixed one bogey with eight birdies, including a sensational three on the par-four 18th when he holed out from a greenside bunker to seal victory at the $4.4 million event.
Almost forgotten was Glover’s 35-foot birdie on 17 that put the 25-year-old in position to go for the win.
Pernice, playing in the final group, had a chance to force a playoff but failed on a 15-foot birdie attempt at the last.
“That bunker shot went in and I’ve been four feet off the ground ever since,” said Glover, who earned $792,000 and a two-year exemption for the win.
“It’s just great. A long time coming. A major goal and I just realized it. It’s nice.
“My bunker game has been horrendous this week, and pretty much all year, to be honest. I’ve been short all week. So I squared the club face up a little bit more, give it a little bit more, and it went in.
“I can’t explain it, it’s just the way it happened.”
While it may have seemed like a long time, Glover’s maiden win comes on just his second season on the PGA Tour and moved him up to 28th on the money list and a chance to make the season ending Tour Championship in two weeks in Atlanta.
“My goals haven’t changed, because playing in Atlanta was one of the ones I wrote down, January 1,” said Glover. “It does set up well for me. I think it’s one of the better courses we play.”
Final scores:
265 - Lucas Glover 68-66-66-65
266 - Tom Pernice 67-62-68-69
267 - Rich Beem 65-69-63-70, Harrison Frazar 67-66-66-68, Geoff Ogilvy 64-66-68-69, Ryan Palmer 67-70-66-64, Justin Rose 67-68-64-68
268 - Mark Calcavecchia 64-69-65-70, Brandt Jobe 69-62-70-67
269 - Tim Clark 66-65-66-72, Tom Lehman 65-70-69-65, Mark Wilson 67-68-63-71
271 - Greg Owen 69-66-66-70, Carl Pettersson 66-61-71-73
272 - Daniel Chopra 66-71-68-67
273 - Stuart Appleby 69-68-68-68, Stephen Leaney 68-64-69-72
274 - Brendan Jones 67-66-70-71
275 - Ryuji Imada 71-65-70-69
276 - Carlos Franco 70-67-70-69
277 - Retief Goosen 71-65-73-68
278 - Nick Price 65-68-72-73
280 - John Senden 69-67-70-74, Hidemichi Tanaka 68-69-71-72
281 - Gavin Coles 70-66-70-75
282 - Peter Lonard 70-65-74-73.—Agencies