Thousand Oaks, Calif. ? Age is starting to creep up on Vijay Singh, who turns 46 in February and spent the last three months taking the longest break of his life to let nagging injuries heal.

But against a world-class field Sunday at the Chevron World Challenge, Singh looked as good as new.

With three straight birdies early on the back nine to get into contention and a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole, Singh closed with a 5-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Steve Stricker to finish off the most lucrative season of his career.

“When I show up and I know I can’t win the golf tournament, I’m going to quit,” Singh said. “But as long as I show up and know that I can win, I’m going to keep playing.”

Stricker came up short of the 18th green and had to scramble for par, closing with a 68 to earn $840,000, his biggest check this year.

Singh virtually vanished after capturing the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus on Sept. 28 at the Tour Championship. He went an entire month without hitting balls to rest a left arm wracked with tendinitis — “I haven’t done that in forever,” he said — and only began practicing for the Father-Son Championship earlier this month.

Singh showed up at Sherwood Country Club with a new driver, but kept the ball in play on the weekend. He dominated the par 5s in 9 under during a weekend in which he closed by shooting 67-67.