Singh ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch to close out the front nine, and he was coming off a three-putt bogey on the 11th. He decided to go for the par-5 12th in two by hitting driver off the deck, but pulled it under a tree left of the green.

Thinking he was in trouble, Singh was thrilled to see a gap in the branches for him to hit wedge toward the green, and he surprised even himself by making a 20-foot birdie putt with about 6 feet of break.

Singh essentially sealed victory three holes later when he hit driver over the corner of two houses and a group of Magnolia trees on the 15th, so far that he had only sand wedge left to the green. He spun the ball off the slope to within 2 feet for birdie.

That allowed him room for mistakes, and he made his share with bogeys on the 16th and 17th that affected only the margin.

“It gives me belief that I can still win out here with the best of them, and not only once,” Singh said. “I can keep winning.”

The consolation for Mediate was his $594,000 for second place, more than enough for him to secure a job the rest of the year. Mediate started the season on a minor medical exemption because of a back injury last year, and he was given 10 tournaments to earn the equivalent of 125th on the 2006 money list.

“Ridiculous satisfaction,” Mediate said. “This is huge.”

Sergio Garcia also tried to make a run and got within two shots with a 15-foot birdie on the 13th. But he bogeyed the next two holes, missing a 4-foot par putt on the 15th, and finishing his round of 71 by missing another 4-footer on the 18th. He tied for fifth with John Rollins (71) and Tom Lehman (72).

Divots: Singh tied for best score of the day each of the last two rounds, both times with a 67. ... The winning score would have been 16 under if Palmer had not changed par to a 70. The winning score last year was 14-under 274. ... Mediate went 18 straight holes without a bogey until the 72nd hole. ... J.B. Holmes shot 49 on the front nine and was 15 over through his first 10 holes before he played his eight holes in 2 under for an 83. ... Lehman left Bay Hill knowing he would have to watch the Masters on TV. He needed second place alone for a chance to get to Doral and possibly the Masters.

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