CHAMPIONS

• Watson left standing as FedEx Kinko's winner

  
  

  Austin, TX (Sports Network) - Denis Watson birdied the 18th hole on Sunday to win the FedEx Kinko's Classic, shooting a three-under 69 in a final round that was rife with late-day collapses.

  Watson claimed his fourth Champions Tour title at 10-under 206, rolling in an eight-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a one-shot victory.

  He was just one of five players who could have walked off The Hills Country Club course a winner.

  Nick Price, seeking his maiden Champions Tour win after holding the first- and second-round leads, double-bogeyed the 15th and 16th holes to let a three-shot advantage slip away.

  The three-time major champion walked off with a three-over 75 -- his worst round of the week by eight shots -- and shared second place with 2007 champion Scott Hoch (69) and Tim Simpson (70) at nine-under 207.

  Simpson had moved into the lead following Price's second double-bogey, but only remained there for one hole. He missed a four-foot par putt at the 17th to fall back, creating a five-way tie for the lead.

  Loren Roberts was the fifth player who stood at nine-under par late in the round -- along with Watson, Price, Hoch and Simpson -- but he stumbled to a double-bogey at the 17th before posting a birdie at the 18th to shoot a 74.

  Roberts finished in fifth place at eight-under 208, with John Cook (69) and Mark Wiebe (69) another shot further back at seven-under 209.

  Watson didn't escape Sunday without a late-round mistake -- he bogeyed the 16th hole -- but when it came down to it, he was the only player on top who was able to make the shots when he needed them.

  He drove into the rough at the par-five 18th, but the 342-yard bomb left him with just 206 yards remaining to the green. His second shot landed on the surface, 50 feet from the hole, and Watson lagged to eight feet to set up the eventual winning birdie.

  It was his sixth birdie of the round, but only his second on the back nine.

  The 52-year-old Zimbabwean has now won four times in the past 12 months, a run that began at last year's Senior PGA Championship and continued with his win at the AT&T Champions Classic two months ago.

  Before last season's Senior PGA, Watson hadn't won anywhere since claiming three PGA Tour titles in 1984.

  Price's last win of any kind came at the 2002 Colonial, which marked his 18th PGA Tour win. Four of those victories came in Texas, and Price looked like he would build on his winning Lone Star state history until an epic late-round collapse.

  Having made two birdies and a bogey on his first 14 holes Sunday, Price took a three-shot lead to the 15th. But an errant second shot into the water led to double-bogey, and another followed at the 16th when the 51-year-old South African again took a penalty.

  The last player with a chance to tie Watson and force a playoff, Price hit into a greenside bunker at the 18th hole and scrambled for a finishing par to end one stroke back.

  05/04 19:53:57 ET