Jay Haas (3,053) nipped Loren Roberts (3,033) by 20 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race, the closest race in history. Roberts was leading Haas by 16 points going to No. 18, but three-putted for a bogey to give Haas the Charles Schwab Cup and the $1 million annuity. By finishing second, Roberts will receive a $500,000 annuity. Rounding out the top five were Tom Kite (1,910), Brad Bryant (1,685) and Jim Thorpe and Eduardo Romero (1,546). Kite will receive $300,000, Bryant $200,000 and Thorpe and Romero will each receive $100,000 annuities, respectively.

•Haas also won the Arnold Palmer Award as the Champions Tour 2006 money leader with $2,420,227, the highest total by a player since 2002 when Hale Irwin led with $3,028,304.

•Jim Thorpe became the fourth multiple winner of this event when he won by two strokes over Tom Kite on Sunday. Tom Watson has won the crown three times (2000, ’02 and ’05), while Thorpe (2003, ’06) joins Mike Hill (1990-91) and Raymond Floyd (1992, ’94) as two-time winners.

•Thorpe earned a check for $440,000 matching his career best on the Champions Tour and it increased his 2006 earnings to $1,296,784, the seventh consecutive year he had reached the $1 million mark.

•With his win, Thorpe claims a Champions Tour title for the seventh straight year and becomes the 19th different winner in 2006. There were also 19 different winners in 2005.

•Thorpe’s win was his fourth in Northern California on the Champions Tour. In addition to two victories at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, Thorpe also won The Transamerica in Napa and the Gold Rush Classic near Sacramento in back-to-back weeks in 2000.

•Here were Thorpe’s statistics and ranking through 72 holes.

 Fairways Hit – 40/56 (4)
Greens in Regulations – 53/72 (T15)
Putts Per Round – 27.2 (1)
Driving Distance – 289.4 (17) 

•Keith Fergus made a nice showing in his first appearance in the tournament. He fired rounds of 67-66 on the weekend to finish third overall. He earned $213,000 for his effort, a career best.

•Tom Kite’s second-place finish was his second in this tournament. He was also second in 2004. In his previous three visits to Sonoma, he had finished third, second and third.

•Gil Morgan’s streak of consecutive rounds of par or better ended at 22 when he shot a 5-over-par 77 on Sunday. His streak of 22 was the longest streak on the Champions Tour this year.

•Speaking of streaks, Hale Irwin’s string of consecutive years with a victory came to an end when he finished tied for 11th. Irwin had won at least two events every season since he joined the Champions Tour in 1995, a run of 11 seasons, which is a Champions Tour record. Irwin was consistent this week, however. He shot a 2-under-par 70 all four days.

•With Hale Irwin’s streak now over, Jim Thorpe moves to the top of the list for consecutive seasons with at least one victory with seven, two more than Tom Jenkins.

•Irwin also saw his streak of consecutive seasons with at least $1 million in season earnings end at 10 when he finished with $808,111. He was 22nd on the final money list, the first time out of the top 10.

•A total of 12 players finished with $1 million in season earnings. The last players to reach that figure were Jim Thorpe and Andy Bean, who finished tied for ninth. Bean’s finish pushed his season total to a career-best $1,020,678.

•Eduardo Romero capped a strong rookie season with a tie for fourth on Sunday. He opened with a 73 on Thursday which placed him tied for 25th, but finished with rounds of 69-66-68. Although he played just nine events this year, Romero was 17th on the final money list ($909,229) and finished tied for fifth in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race with Jim Thorpe.

•Tom Purtzer, Tom Watson and Des Smyth led all players with 21 birdies.

•Defending champion Tom Watson finished tied for sixth.

•Overall, the field averaged 70.422 in 2006, a drop from 70.826 in 2005.