Singh wins Sherwood title as Furyk and Kim falter

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

THOUSAND OAKS, California (Reuters) - Ice-cool Vijay Singh took advantage of stumbling finishes by Jim Furyk and Anthony Kim to win the Chevron World Challenge by one shot Sunday.

Two strokes off the pace overnight, world number five Singh calmly rolled in an eight-foot downhill putt to birdie the par-four 18th and clinch his fourth victory of the year.

The smooth-swinging Fijian birdied four of the last eight holes at Sherwood Country Club on the way to a sparkling five-under-par 67 and an 11-under total of 277 in the elite tournament hosted by Tiger Woods.

"Very unexpected," a beaming Singh said in a greenside television interview. "I just hung in there. I thought Jimmy Furyk was playing so well and Anthony so I just had to keep pace.

"My thought was if I shot a 67 or 68 I may have a good chance and it ended up being what I needed.

"I really played solid," added the 45-year-old whose closing round included six birdies and a lone bogey. "I hit a lot of greens, a lot of fairways and didn't make too many mistakes. The putter started working and when I got it inside of eight and 10 feet, I made a lot of putts coming in."

Singh's playing partner Steve Stricker closed with a 68 to secure second place while third-round leader Kim (73) had to settle for a share of third at seven under with fellow American Hunter Mahan (68).

Furyk, who had briefly forged two ahead after a burst of three birdies from the third, dropped four shots in the last three holes for a 74 and a tie for fifth at five under with Colombia's Camilo Villegas (73).

(Editing by Ed Osmond)