Chevron World Challenge: Final-round notebook

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THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- At the age of 45 years, nine months and 30 days, Vijay Singh captured the 2008 Chevron World Challenge title by one stroke over Steve Stricker. ...

• On the heels of a third-round, 5-under-par 67, Singh kept the momentum going Sunday by firing a second consecutive 67, capped off by a birdie at the 72nd hole. ...

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Steve Stricker rallied with a 68, and came up one shot short.

• Singh began the final-round trailing Jim Furyk by two. Birdies on Nos. 2, 6, 11, 12, 13 and 18, however, allowed Singh to bypass Furyk and claim his first Chevron World Challenge title. ...

• This marked the eighth time Singh has competed in the Chevron World Challenge. His previous best finish was second in 2001. ...

• With the win, Singh picks up the $1,350,000 first-place prize in his first event since the TOUR Championship, where he finished tied for 22nd in September. Sunday's first-place prize brings his total earnings in this event to $3,186,000. ...

• Singh's winning score of 11 under tied the number for closest in relation to par in the event's history. Here's a look at winning scores from previous years at Sherwood: -22 in 2007, -16 in 2006, -16 in 2005, -20 in 2004, -11 in 2003, -20 in 2002, -15 in 2001 and -22 in 2000. ...

• Stricker quietly, but steadily made his way up the leaderboard Sunday. Stricker, the 2006 and 2007 PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year fired a final-round, 4-under 68 to claim runner-up honors. 2008 marks the second time Stricker has competed in the Chevron World Challenge. He competed at Sherwood last year and after rounds of 72-69-68-70, he finished tied for fifth. ...

• Stricker enjoyed another solid season in 2008, marked by 13 top-25 finishes, four of which came in each of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup events late in the season. Among those top-25 finishes were six top-10s. ...

• Furyk began the final round with a two-stroke lead, but bogeys at Nos. 14, 16 and 17 and a double bogey at 18 pulled him from contention. He played all four rounds without making a par at 18. He birdied the hole in Round 1, bogeyed 18 in Round 2 and double-bogeyed his nemesis hole in Rounds 3 and 4. ...

• Anthony Kim holed a flop shot over a greenside bunker for birdie at the par-4 ninth to catch Furyk's lead of 8 under par. Back-to-back double bogeys at 14 and 15, however, dashed Kim's hopes of becoming the third player to win the Chevron World Challenge in his first attempt. ...

• Luke Donald, the 2005 Chevron World Challenge champion, showed no signs of one who recently recovered from wrist surgery. Donald, who began the day at 6 over, birdied holes 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 17 to post a final-round 6-under 66. It was his best competitive round since his 6-under 64 in Round 1of the Honda Classic earlier this year. ...

• At 49 years, two months and 18 days, Fred Couples fired a final-round 78 to cap off his off his eighth appearance in the Chevron World Challenge. His best finish came in his first start of 2000, when he finished fourth. ...

• Four players made their Chevron World Challenge debuts this year. Here's a look at how the fared: Hunter Mahan (71-72-70-68--281), Anthony Kim (71-70-67-73--281), Camilo Villegas (74-67-69-73--283) and Boo Weekley (70-73-72-75--290). ...

• Scoring average for Round 4: 72.879. Toughest hole: par-4 14th (4.375). Easiest hole: par-5 fifth and par-5 13th (4.688).