Ponte Verda Beach, Fla. ? In the toughest round ever on the TPC at Sawgrass, Fred Funk found himself tied for the lead in The Players Championship as he stood in the 16th fairway.

He had 234 yards to a green partially surrounded by water. A glance to the right revealed an even scarier sight — the island-green 17th hole, buffeted by 35 mph gusts.

At age 48, Funk knew he was running out of time.

“I just felt like, ‘How many chances do I have to win?’ I was letting The Players Championship go, and I didn’t want to let it go,” Funk said. “I wanted to be aggressive and try to win thing.”

He hit 3-iron into 20 feet for birdie, then atoned for some putting lapses down the stretch Monday by saving par from a bunker with a 5-footer on the 18th hole to become the oldest winner at The Players Championship.

“It’s the biggest win by far that I’ve ever had,” Funk said. “This is the strongest field that we play all year long. It’s a really hard golf course. I hung in there, barely. But it’s an awful good feeling.”

Funk closed with a 1-under 71 in a final round where the average score was 76.512, the highest in the history of this event.

It wasn’t over until Luke Donald of England hit a 4-iron just over the back of the 18th green, then saw his 20-foot birdie putt stay just left of the cup for a 76.

Earlier, Scott 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.”

They finished one shot behind, along with Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, whose 68 was the best score of a brutal final round.

Funk had reason to believe he didn’t belong.

As he walked off the fifth tee just before the third and final rain delay Sunday, he shook his head and said with a smile, “I feel like a Volkswagen, like Herbie the Love Bug, in a field of Ferraris,” alluding to his lack of power.

But he kept it between the lines, and had just enough gas at the end.

Funk finished at 9-under 279, the highest winning score on tour this year, and won $1.44 million from the richest purse of the year.

The wind was the strongest since the tournament moved to the Stadium Course at Sawgrass in 1982. It nearly blew flagsticks out of the hole, swept sand from the bunker and caused limbs to drop like leaves.