PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- On the strength of his strong stretch run to finish the season, Joe Durant has clinched the 2006 Fall Finish Presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers. For winning the competition, Durant will receive a bonus of $500,000.

In its seventh year, the Fall Finish Presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers is an 11-tournament series that began at the Deutsche Bank Championship and ended with the conclusion of THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. The series includes enhanced purses and bonus awards totaling $1 million. Points are awarded for each top-10 finish, from 100 points for first place to 10 for 10th.

Carl Pettersson of Sweden won the competition in 2005, ending Vijay Singh’s run of three consecutive titles from 2002-2004. Bob Estes won the series in 2001, while Tiger Woods won in 2000.

Durant led the series with 291.666 points accumulated in the seven Fall Finish Presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers events he played, to clinch the $500,000 first-place bonus. Jim Furyk, who entered the week as the only player with a chance to catch Durant, finished in second with 220.000 points while Troy Matteson finished in third with 201.666 points. Furyk earned $300,000 and Matteson earned $200,000.

“It adds a nice bit of spice to the end of the season,” said Durant. “It makes guys grind hard at the end. I’ve just played very well the last month and a half. I made a lot of putts and seemed not to get in my own way a lot, which is a pleasant change.”

In seven starts, Durant won $1,693,456 of his season’s total of $2,331,139 (77 percent). He had a stretch of five consecutive top-10 finishes over the last month beginning with a playoff loss at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. He followed that with a tie for sixth the next week at the Chrysler Classic of Greensboro. After taking a week off, he earned his fourth career PGA TOUR title at the FUNAI Classic at WALT DISNEY WORLD Resort. Last week he finished tied for fourth at the Chrysler Championship, before his third-place finish in this week’s THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.

Joe Durant won the Fall Finish Presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers (WireImage)

“Our congratulations go to Joe Durant for winning the seventh annual Fall Finish Presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers,” said Dean Kern, U.S. Markets Leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “His play over the last 11 weeks of the season was inspiring to watch as he performed at a high level week-in and week-out.

“This is Joe Durant’s first Fall Finish title and to win it over such fantastic golfers as Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk is an impressive achievement. We welcome Joe to the outstanding roster of Fall Finish winners.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers is the Official Professional Services Firm of the PGA TOUR, Champions Tour and Nationwide Tour. PricewaterhouseCoopers has an on-site presence at Fall Finish events, strengthening its brand through this TOUR relationship with advertising during Fall Finish telecasts and sponsorship of the TOUR’s Performance Statistics. PricewaterhouseCoopers is also the TOUR’s official tabulator of the votes for all annual player awards.