Olin Browne was simply trying to finish his final round at Colonial Country Club and get out of the way.

When he inadvertently saw a leaderboard on the 16th hole, he was surprised to find himself in a three-way tie for the lead. When he saved par from the bunker with an 8-foot putt on the 18th, he still thought 8-under wouldn't be good enough to win.

The groans he heard while putting on the practice green told him differently.

Greg Kraft, Billy Mayfair and everyone else got out of the way for him.

"All of a sudden, everybody else messed up," Browne said today after his one-stroke victory in the MasterCard Colonial. "All of a sudden, I'm wearing a plaid jacket and I get my name on the Wall of Champions."

With two eagles and only one mistake down the stretch, Browne closed with a 4-under 66 to finish at 272 and joined players like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as Colonial champions.

Browne, who turned 40 on Saturday, won for the second time on the PGA Tour. His first victory came last year in a playoff in the Canon Greater Hartford Open.

"There are a lot of guys who have won a PGA Tour event," Browne said. "Winning another one is significant. Winning here is something I'm very proud of."

His first-round 73 was the highest start by a Colonial champion since Mike Souchak opened with a 74 in 1956. Even when he got to 8-under with a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 11, Browne figured he needed to pick up one more stroke, maybe even two.

Kraft had a three-stroke lead at the turn and was still 10-under when he hit a tree twice on No. 12 and made a double bogey. Then he started missing greens, and it finally caught up with him.

His 6-foot par putt curled over the right edge to fall one stroke back. Kraft hit his drive on No. 18 into the gallery, put his approach in the bunker and nearly holed out to force the playoff that Browne was expecting.

Instead, Kraft had to settle for a par to finish at 70 and join four others at 273. It was the second close call this year for Kraft, in search of his first official PGA Tour victory after 218 starts. He needed only a par to get into a playoff at Doral-Ryder Open, but hit his 5-iron in the water.

"If someone had said, 'Would you take a runner-up finish after starting with a 75?' I would have said, 'Yeah,' " Kraft said. "If someone had said, 'Would you take a runner-up finish after being 10-under?' No."

Mayfair missed a 4-foot birdie on the 15th that would have given him the lead, then made bogey from a tough lie in the bunker on the next hole. Needing a birdie on the 18th, he flew the green with a 9-iron and nearly went into the water.

"I'd like to have the putt on 15 back," Mayfair said. "I gave myself a chance. I didn't quite close the door.''

Paul Goydos and Jeff Sluman, who also shot 66s, finished at 273 along with Tim Herron (67) and Fred Funk (68). Funk was the only other player to get to 8-under on the back nine. He also made a bogey on the par-3 16th and, like Kraft and Mayfair, couldn't get it back.

Browne won $504,000 and gets another invitation to the winners-only Mercedes Championship in Hawaii next year.

He earned his first trip to Kapalua by winning the Canon Greater Hartford Open last year, but had to miss the Mercedes because of surgery in October to repair a tendon in his left arm. Even now, he is under doctor's orders to hit no more than 50 balls before a round.

So what was he doing on the driving range after finishing 40 minutes before the leaders?

"Killing time," he said.

Mid-morning lightning caused a one-hour delay, which did nothing more than make the leaders start later in the afternoon. Still, they came out firing.

Six players were tied for the lead at 7-under before Kraft, Mayfair or Scott Verplank had a chance to hit their first shot. Six players were at 8-under at some point in the round.

Staying there proved to be another matter.

DIVOTS: Tom Watson made his last regular PGA Tour event memorable. Faced with the same awkward stance on No. 9 that he had a year ago, when he hit it to 10 feet for a birdie, he dumped it in the water today. Watson took a drop, then holed the sand wedge for a par. He closed with a birdie for an even-par 70 and 280. Watson says he will only play majors until he turns 50 in September and joins the Senior PGA Tour. ... Along with having a chance to win, Mickelson could have picked up valuable Ryder Cup points with a good round today. He closed with a 70 and finished out of the top 10. Mickelson is 12th in the standings, but doesn't plan to play much over the next two months because his wife is expecting their first child. ... Funk and Herron were the only players to shoot in the 60s for all four rounds.