Senior British Open: Final-round notebook

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TROON, Scotland -- With his victory, Bruce Vaughan wins for the first time on the Champions Tour, and it comes in his 33rd career start. Prior to Sunday, his best finish was a second-place at the 2007 Dick's Sporting Goods Open.

Runner-up John Cook moved up to third in the Charles Schwab Cup standings. (Inglis/Getty Images)

• The victory also earns Vaughan a check for $315,600, the largest check of his professional career, and a five-year exemption into the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii.

• The winner's check of $315,600 pushes his season earnings to $598,709, which moves him to the 17th spot on the current money list.

• Bruce Vaughan also earns a berth in next year's British Open, which will be staged at Turnberry. Coincidentally, one of Vaughan's two appearances at that event came in 1994 at Muirfield. He also played in 2006 at Royal Liverpool.

• Bruce Vaughan also picks up 632 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race. He now has 702 points in that race and moves into the top 10 in the standings.

• The victory by Bruce Vaughan means that the Senior British Open trophy will remain the state of Kansas. Like Tom Watson, Vaughan resides in the Sunflower State, in Hutchinson, about 200 miles west of Watson's home near Kansas City (Stilwell).

• Bruce Vaughan is also the fifth different American to claim this title, joining Tom Wargo (1994), Pete Oakley (2004), Loren Roberts (2006) and Tom Watson (2003, 2005, 2007).

• With current leader Jay Haas not competing in this event, fourth-place finisher Bernhard Langer takes over the lead in the Charles Schwab Cup race with 1,743 points based on double points being awarded at all major championships. Haas is now second with 1,671 points followed by John Cook (1,072), Loren Roberts (1,049) and Scott Hoch (1,026).

• Sunday's playoff between John Cook and Bruce Vaughan was the eighth in tournament history and the fourth since it became an official event in 2003.

• So far this year, only eight of 19 leaders heading into the final round have gone on to win the event.

• After just making the cut on the number (10 over par) on Friday, Gary Koch enjoyed a very successful weekend. After shooting a 1-under-par 70 on Friday, Koch followed with the low round on Sunday, a 5-under-par 66 which helped him to a tie for 13th finish. He had started the weekend tied for 71st. Koch's final-round 66 was the day's best round.

• Eduardo Romero's third-place finish marked the fifth time he has posted a top-10 finish in this event since it became official in 2003.

• Gene Jones continues to play well in his first full season on the Champions Tour. The co-medalist at last year's Champions Tour's National Qualifying Tournament in Florida. Jones finished tied for fifth for his third top-10 finish in his last three starts. Jones now has six top-10 finishes in 13 starts in 2008.