THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Age is starting to creep up on Vijay Singh, who turns 46 in February and spent the last three months taking the longest break of his life to let nagging injuries heal.

But against a world-class field yesterday at the Chevron World Challenge, Singh looked as good as new.

With three straight birdies early on the back nine to get into contention and a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Singh closed with a 5-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Steve Stricker to finish off the most lucrative season of his career.

"When I show up and I know I can't win the golf tournament, I'm going to quit," Singh said. "But as long as I show up and know that I can win, I'm going to keep playing."

Stricker came up short of the 18th green and had to scramble for par, closing with a 68 to earn $840,000, his biggest check this year.

Singh virtually vanished after capturing the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus on Sept. 28 at the Tour Championship. He went an entire month without hitting balls to rest a left arm wracked with tendinitis — "I haven't done that in forever," he said — and only began practicing for the Father-Son Championship earlier this month.

Making it even more challenging, Singh showed up at Sherwood Country Club with a new driver, yet managed to play the par 5s in 9 under during his 67-67 weekend.

Singh, who finished at 11-under 277 to win Tiger Woods' charity event for the first time, won $1.35 million and pushed his earnings for the year to more than $18 million, for his third money title in the past six years.

Anthony Kim, the 54-hole leader, closed with a 73 and tied for third with Hunter Mahan (68) at 281.

ELSEWHERE

South African Open: Local favorite Richard Sterne beat Gareth Maybin of Northern Ireland on the first playoff hole yesterday at Paarl, South Africa. The pair were tied at 14-under 274 after 72 holes at Pearl Valley Golf Estates, and Sterne (66) birdied the playoff hole after Maybin (70) pushed his tee shot into a fairway bunker and was only able to make par.

Volvo Masters: Singapore's Lam Chihbing won the Asian Tour's season-ending event yesterday, firing a 5-under 67 in the final round to win by two strokes at Bangkok, Thailand. Lam finished with three birdies in the final four holes for a four-round total of 14-under 274. Thailand's Chapchai Nirat (67) was second.