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By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Score one for Herbie the Love Bug.

Fred Funk outplayed golf's Big Four -- and everyone else in the PGA Tour's strongest field for an unlikely victory at The Players Championship on Monday.

And to Funk, a short hitter like him earning the title over the game's best is a lot like Walt Disney's lovable Volkswagen taking the checkered flag in Monte Carlo.

''I felt kind of like Herbie the Love Bug because I'm just out there hitting my little pea shooters, and the bombers are going 40 (yards) by me,'' he said.

You know the ending Disney would've written. But Funk gutted this one out on his own, surviving 32 ferociously windy holes, three-putting three greens down the stretch and rolling in a critical 5-footer for par on the 18th that, at 9-under par, left him a stroke ahead of Scott Verplank, Tom Lehman and Luke Donald.

''That felt really good to come out in as strong a field as this, with all these great players,'' the 48-year-old Funk said.

In the end, it was Funk who had his measure on a course that played the toughest it ever had.

''It was a slugfest,'' said Joe Durant, alone in fifth at 7-under.

There were two main topics at The Players Championship this week -- when would it stop raining and which of golf's Big Four -- Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson -- would win.

The third round was halted Sunday, the fifth weather stoppage of the tournament, and with the leaders needing to squeeze in 33 holes, chances for a Tuesday finish were good. But the sun broke high and clear -- although wind gusted to 35 mph -- and play continued until just before dusk when Donald missed a 20-footer that would've meant playoff.

Singh came the closest to the top. He trailed by four shots until he three-putted from 8 feet for a double bogey on No. 15. He closed with a 72 and tied for 12th, enough to retain his No. 1 ranking by finishing ahead of Woods.

Woods tied for 53rd by shooting a 75, which followed his 75 in the third round -- his highest scores of the year. Mickelson fell from the chase with two balls into the water on the 17th in the morning, and another in the afternoon. He shot 75, only slightly better than his morning 77, and tied for 40th.

Ernie Els began his day with a double bogey and a triple bogey, but closed with a 69 to tie for 17th.

The battle was left for Funk and Donald.

When Funk made his closing putt, he shouted ''Yeah!'' and threw his hat on the green in triumph. But his caddie quickly reminded him, ''It's not over.''

''I know it's not over,'' Funk told him. ''But I finally did something I needed to do.''

Soon enough, there was Donald, fighting back from a 40 on the front nine, a stroke down and facing his tying putt. But it wobbled slightly to the left and Funk began the celebrations for real.

Earlier, Verplank slung his putter in disbelief when his 10-foot par putt on the 18th lipped out for a 70.

''I did everything I was supposed to do,'' Verplank said. ''It just didn't go in.''

It was just one of several disappointing shots on a round that finished with an all-time high scoring average score of 76.512. No one suffered more than Bob Tway, the former PGA champion who put four balls in the water on notorious No. 17 Monday morning and left with a 12 on the demon par-3.

Tway was tied for 10th before teeing off; tied for 72nd walking away.

''It's a shame that it happens, that you play that well for that long,'' he said. ''But everyone's got to play it.''

Donald was proud that a grinder like Funk could succeed against the game's best. A lot of that, Donald said, came from thick rough, uncut since last Monday, that looked more like lunch for a grazing herd of cows than for playing golf.