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By Dave Senko
PGA TOUR Staff

With his victory, Tom Watson wins the Senior Open Championship for the third time in his career and also claims his 13th major title (eight on PGA TOUR and five on Champions Tour) in PGA-sanctioned events.

Tom Watson now has three Senior Open Championships. (AP)

Watson's win at Muirfield matches Gary Player's accomplishment of three victories in this tournament. Watson also won in 2003 (Turnberry) and 2005 (Royal Aberdeen), while Player won in 1988, '90 and '97.

The win earns Watson a check for $324,531 and imcreases his 2007 earnings to $827,170. It also gives him multiple victories in the season for the third time in his career. He also won twice in 2003 and 2005. His other win this year came at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am.

The victory also increased his career wins on the PGA TOUR and Champions Tour to 49, including 39 on the PGA TOUR.

Watson earned 650 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race based on double points being awarded in major championships this year and now has 1,252 points which moves him into fifth place. With his T5 finish, Jay Haas regained the lead in the race and now leads with 2,061 points. Brad Bryant, who took the lead after his win at the U.S. Senior Open, is second with 2,019 points. Loren Roberts (1,562), Denis Watson (1,276) and Watson (1,252).

Watson also wins for the eighth time in the Open Championship (five wins) and the Senior Open Championship. He wins a second title at Muirfield, having won the 1980 British Open on the course. Seven of his eight wins in these events have come in Scotland. The lone exception was at Royal Birkdale in 1983.

In addition to moving atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings, Jay Haas also kept some streaks alive. He posted his third consecutive top-10 finish in a major championship in 2007 with his T4 effort (he was T5 at the U.S. Senior Open, T9 at Senior PGA Championship), and also had his seventh consecutive top-10 finish on the Champions Tour.

Following the same script as on Saturday, none of the 76 remaining competitors was able to make a birdie on the opening hole. A total of 43 players made par compared to only 16 on Saturday and the hole averaged 4.500 for the round, a drop from the third-round average of 5.169 (+1.169 over par). However, the average for the four rounds was 4.824 (+.824 over par), making it by far the hardest hole in a Champions Tour event this year. The most difficult coming into this event was No. 17 at Kiawah Island (Senior PGA Championship) which averaged 3.596 (+.596 over par). Only Tim Simpson made a birdie over the final three days and he did so on Friday. The tally for the week was 10 birdies, 157 pars, 197 bogeys, 52 doubles and 21 other. The 4.824 scoring average made it the most difficult hole on the Champions Tour since the 1990 Greater Grand Rapids Open when No. 4 (par-4) averaged 5.1244 (+1.244 over par).

It was a nice finish on Sunday for 60-year-old Hugh Baiocchi. The South African closed with a 4-under-par 67, the low round of the tournament, and it led to a T19 finish.

After earning just one top-10 finish in his first 12 starts, Lonnie Nielsen continues to be one of the hottest players on the Champions Tour. Nielsen finished T4, his third top-10 finish in his last four starts. In addition to his finish today, he won the Commerce Bank Championship and was third at the Dick's Sporting Goods Open. He narrowly missed a fourth top-10 when he was T11 at the U.S. Senior Open in that span.

The field averaged 74.920 on Sunday and only four players finished with sub-par scores -- Hugh Baiocchi (67), Kiyoshi Murota (69), Kenny Knox (69) and Jay Haas (70).

Defending champion Loren Roberts closed with a second consecutive 71 to finish T4.

It was a very fine showing for John Ross, who open qualified for this tournament. Ross finished eighth, his second nice showing in a major championship. He was T18 at the U.S. Senior Open.

Bob Charles finished T34 in his 21st Senior British Open. He is the only player to compete in all 21 tournaments and is a two-time champion.

Despite a closing-round 74, Eduardo Romero finished T4, his fourth consecutive top-10 finish in this tournament. He was T2 in 2004, T9 in 2005 and was second in 2007.

Also posting a top-10 finish for the fourth time in this event was Tom Kite, who closed with an even-par 71 on Sunday to finish T10.

Nick Faldo finished T14 in his first senior's event.