Tony Dejak / AP

Vijay Singh's tournament drought had knocked him out of the top 10 in the world rankings. His win at Bridgestone Invitational Sunday will likely move him to No. 4 overall.

Westwood, who could have moved up to No. 4 with his first U.S. title in 10 years, rallied from a five-shot deficit with 11 holes to play to get within one of the lead. But he missed a 7-foot birdie on the 17th, and his 15-foot birdie putt from the fringe on the 18th to tie for the lead was left all the way. He closed with a 69.

“I gave myself a real good look at it,” Westwood said.

An equally impressive rally belonged to Appleby, the only player to compete in all 29 of these WGC events since they began in 1999. He was seemingly out of the picture until a 30-foot birdie on the 16th, a 3-foot birdie on the 17th and an 18-foot birdie attempt on the final hole that just stayed right of the cup. He shot 68.

“I had a putt for what I thought would get me into a playoff,” Appleby said. “I hit the best putt I could have hit without it going in.”

Darren Clarke made a strong showing in his first U.S. tournament since the PGA Championship last year. Clarke closed with a 67 to tie for sixth with Peter Lonard (66).

Singh broke out of a three-way tie with Westwood and Mickelson by making four birdies in a five-hole stretch on the front nine, starting with a two-putt birdie from about 18 feet on the second hole, concluding with an approach to tap-in range on the sixth.

But the first sign of a struggle came on No. 8 when he missed an 8-foot par putt.

Mickelson hit from the left rough to inches of the hole on the 11th for a birdie. That gave him the lead when Singh, playing in the group behind him, spun a wedge back 40 feet and three-putted from the fringe.

“I started missing 5- and 6-footers,” Singh said. “I tried to hit it as close as possible so I didn’t leave myself any putts.”

It was a grind the rest of the day. Singh badly missed an 8-footer for par on the 13th, and with a chance to seize control on the 16th, his 4-foot birdie putt missed on the low side.

But he came through on the final two holes for a victory long overdue. Next up is the PGA Championship, followed by the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedEx Cup and the $10 million prize.

“It puts me in a really good frame of mind going into next week and the rest of the season,” he said.