SURREY, B.C. -- Gene Sauers' $630,000 first-place check is more than seven times the amount of his first winning payday. He earned $81,000 for his victory at the 1986 Bank of Boston Classic.
Sauers' last win, in 1989, came 13 years, 6 months and 20 days ago. That's the third longest period between wins, surpassed only by Butch Baird and Ed Fiori.
STELLAR SUNDAY FOR SENDEN: In all the talk of Australians doing well at the Air Canada Championship -- Aussies Robert Allenby and Peter Lonard made it into Sunday's final group -- another talented up-and-comer from Down Under was overlooked.
John Senden, a 31-year-old PGA Tour rookie from Brisbane, teed off 10 groups before the leaders, so perhaps it wasn't a big surprise that no one expected him to contend. But Senden went out in 32 with five birdies and a bogey, and as the third-round leaders started tentatively, his name rose up the leaderboard.
Another trio of birdies on holes 12 through 14 took Senden to 7-under for the day and 12-under for the tournament, just one back of then-leader Gene Sauers.
Senden, knowing he had to pull off a great shot at No. 18 to have a chance for birdie -- and tie for the lead -- misjudged his approach as he fired directly at the pin. His iron shot bounced off the rocks at the water hazard in front of the green and was all wet. Senden struggled to a double bogey for a 5-under 66 and had to settle for a top-10 finish.
It will be Senden's first top-10 finish in the 2002 season, though he's come close and owns five top-25s. The paycheck will be of great help as the fall begins -- coming into this week, Senden was at No. 125 on the money list with $347,889 in earnings.
BOGEY-FREE WEEKEND: Ten birdies and no bogeys in the final two rounds moved Vijay Singh up into a tie for third.
Singh played a solid game the entire week, ranking in the top 25 in driving accuracy (T25 with 36 of 56 fairways or 64.3 percent, lowered by a 36 percent showing Friday); greens in regulation (1 with 57 of 72 greens hit); and putts per green in regulation (T12 with an average of 1.702).
As well, the Fiji native's 19 birdies tied him for eighth most in the field.
Singh's eighth top-10 finish for the season puts him just one behind Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods in that category.
LOWERY LUCK: For the third time in six weeks, Steve Lowery turned in a runner-up finish on the PGA Tour.
It's also the second year in a row that Lowery has finished second in this event. In four appearances at the Air Canada Championship, Lowery has never finished higher than a tie for 13th.
His $378,000 second-place check designated Lowery as the leading money winner at the event -- $856,033, or an average of just over $53,500 per round he's played at the Northview Country Club.
