Leonard remained very much in it near the end, one shot back with one hole left, before his drive went into the water on No. 18. He took a bogey 6 and Trahan birdied.
"I played solid the first eight holes, was 3 under," Leonard said. "Obviously D.J. was playing very well. I just didn't get that (good play) to the back nine and he did. That was the difference.
"To have a four-shot lead and come out and play as well as I did the first eight holes, and lose a golf tournament is disappointing."
Trahan quickly turned what had threatened to be a runaway into a duel when he picked up four shots over three holes beginning at No. 9. He sank an 8-foot birdie putt on the ninth hole, rolled in a 40-footer from the back fringe on the 10th, then parred the 11th while Leonard went par-bogey-bogey.
Trahan took the lead for good with an 8-footer for birdie on No. 14 to go to 25 under.
He finished as the best putter in the tournament, averaging 26 putts per round.
"Pardon me for smiling, but I've never heard anybody tell me that before," said Trahan, who normally isn't known for his putting.
The win puts him in this year's Masters, his second trip to Augusta. He missed the cut as an amateur in 2001.
Notes: The tournament lost one of its bigger gallery draws when John Daly dropped out after three rounds, telling officials he had a rib injury. He was tied for 75th at 4 under after 54 holes. The withdrawal was his 12th in tour events over the past two years. ... Comedian George Lopez, the tournament host, and actor teammates Samuel L. Jackson and Luke Wilson won the four-day amateur portion of the event at 59 under. Although Lopez joked earlier that, among other ways to cheat, he would try to get to his ball first to ensure himself a good lie every time. But he and his team won the amateur title legitimately.
