Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am: Final-Round Notebook

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LUTZ, Fla. -- With his victory, Tom Watson becomes the first player to successfully defend at the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am. Watson also becomes the third two-time winner of this event, joining Bob Charles (1989, 1991) and Bruce Fleisher (2000, 2003). This also marked the first time Watson has defended a title in his Champions Tour career.

Scott Hoch barely missed out on a third 2008 title in the state of Florida. (Badz/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Inside the Numbers

Final Leaderboard

Player Score 1. Tom Watson 204 -9 T2. Jay Haas 205 -8 T2. Scott Hoch 205 -8 4. John Cook 206 -7 T5. Tom Jenkins 207 -6 T5. Mark Wiebe 207 -6 7. David Eger 208 -5 T8. Jeff Sluman 209 -4 T8. Vicente Fernandez 209 -4 T8. Nick Price 209 -4 T8. Mike Hulbert 209 -4

• Watson's victory was the 11th in his Champions Tour career and 50th in a PGA TOUR-sanctioned event. He won 39 titles on the PGA Tour.

• Watson earns a first-place check for $255,000 and increases his 2008 earnings to $441,500.

• Watson moves from 20th to 6th in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race with 408 points. Bernhard Langer continues to lead with 851 points, but Scott Hoch closed the gap with his tie for second and now has 703 points. Jay Haas, who also tied for second, is third with 692 points. Fred Funk and Brad Bryant close out the top five with 435 and 427 points, respectively. At the end of the official season, the player earning the most Charles Schwab Cup points will receive a $1 million payout.

• Watson has now won at least one event in eight of his 10 seasons on the Champions Tour with multiple wins in three of those years (2003, 2005 and 2007). Also, his 8-under-par 63 in the first round was the best start by a tournament winner this year.

• At age 58 years, 7 months and 16 days, Watson becomes the second-oldest winner of this event. Hale Irwin remains the oldest at 59 years, 8 months and 25 days.

• Scott Hoch fell one stroke shy of earning a berth in a playoff with Tom Watson and lost out in his bid for a third 2008 title in the state of Florida. Hoch missed a four-foot putt at No. 18 that dropped him into a tie with Jay Haas for second place. Earlier this year, Hoch won both the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton and the ACE Group Classic near Naples during the month of February.

• Mike Hulbert closed with a 1-over-par 72, but still claimed a tie for eighth in his first start on the Champions Tour. He earned a check for $46,740, his largest check since winning $149,600 for a third-place finish at the 1998 Bell Canadian Open. Hulbert's finish also earned him a berth in the Champions Tour's next full-field event at the FedEx Kinko's Classic.

• Jay Haas posted the day's low round, a 7-under-par 64 and it led to a tie for second. It was Haas' sixth top-10 finish in seven outings this year with five of those in the top five.

• Sunday's scoring average was 72.267 which was nearly identical to Saturday's average of 72.347. The field averaged 72.031 for the event, a drop from last year's average of 74.071. However, last year's event was played in February with temperatures in the 50s with winds from 10-20 mph. This year's temperatures were in the mid-to-high 80s with light winds.

• Fulton Allem and his amateur partner, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks, claimed the pro-am portion of the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am by one stroke over Curtis Strange and former NFL quarterback Vinny Testaverde.

• The most difficult hole for the event was No. 18 with an average of 4.311 (+.311), while No. 17 was the second hardest at 3.284 (+.284). The easiest hole was No. 7 at 4.724 (-.276).

• Joey Sindelar recovered nicely from a 3-over-par 74 in his opening round to post rounds of 69-68 on the weekend. It helped him to a tie for 15th finish in his second start on the Champions Tour.