Associated Press
 Sunday, April 8
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- As promised, 2000 champion Vijay Singh started on a new streak of rounds under par Sunday, shooting 69 to finish the tournament at 6-under.

 
  Singh

On Saturday, he shot 73 to end a tour-high string of 34 rounds of par or better. When told about the end of the streak, he said it was OK, he'd just have to start a new one Sunday.

"I played OK," Singh said. "I still left a lot out there. It was disappointing the second and third day for me. I just didn't take advantage."

Tiger Woods held the new, current streak with 21 straight rounds of par or better heading into Sunday.

O'Meara resurfaces
Former Masters champion Mark O'Meara got a welcome reprieve from his struggles of the last 18 months, shooting a 68 on Sunday to finish at 5-under.

 
  O'Meara

"It's special being a champion," said O'Meara, the PGA Tour player of the year in 1998 after winning The Masters and British Open. "It's a great championship."

O'Meara slipped to 112th on the money list last year. This year, he had missed three cuts and not finished better than 34th.

O'Meara opened the tournament with a round of 69, then flattened out, shooting 74 and 72. But Sunday was different. He started birdie-eagle-birdie and finished the front nine in 32; the only sore point was a bogey on the 18th.

"I played better today," he said. "I'm disappointed in my bogey on 18."

Bittersweet homecoming
Franklin Langham hoped to play better in his first Masters. Still, he could brag about two birdies at the hole where he once worked.

 
  Langham

Langham, who grew up near Augusta, operated the scoreboard at the par-3 16th as a teen.

On Sunday, he knocked a 6-iron over the pond to 8 feet and dropped the putt en route to a closing-round 72.

"I have fond memories at that hole," said Langham, who nearly had a hole-in-one Friday before tapping in. "It was nice to birdie it a couple of days."

Otherwise, Langham struggled with his putter and was even warned about slow play on Saturday, leading to angry criticism of the rules officials. He finished the tournament with a 4-over 292.

"I had good shots, I had bad shots," he said. "But I learned a lot. Hopefully I can use it in the future."

Divots
  • Stuart Appleby had 50 straight holes of par or better to break the 53-year-old Masters record of 43, held by Ben Hogan. Appleby's string was stopped on No. 1 on Sunday, with a bogey.

  • David Toms birdied No. 4 three times to finish 3-under for the week, the best cumulative score ever on that hole.

  • Brad Faxon played himself into contention, at 8-under through 10 holes, then played himself out of it with a quadruple-bogey 8 on No. 11. Faxon's second shot landed in the short apron area on the front-right side of the green, but his pitch trickled off and into the water.




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