Vijay Singh broke clear of the field before the turn before cruising to a two-stroke victory over Rocco Mediate at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando on Sunday.

Only one stroke separated the top eight players at one stage early in the final round, before Singh made four birdies in five holes starting at the fifth in demanding conditions at Bay Hill.

The 44-year-old from Fiji was not threatened on the back nine, shooting 67 to finish at eight-under-par 272, his first victory in 15 starts here.

Singh collects more than £500,000 for his 31st PGA Tour victory, matching "Lighthorse" Harry Cooper for the most wins on tour by a non-American.

He said: "It means a lot. This was my first ever tournament in America, and I love this place.

"I hate the 18th hole but I love the rest of it.

"Having won Jack's tournament (the Memorial) and now Arnie's, it's a great honour."

Tiger Woods, who started the day five shots behind, made an ominous start with birdies at the first two holes, but he had a shocking finish, dropping six shots in the final three holes.

Even though he was out of contention by then, it was still a shock to see the world's greatest player find the water at the par-three 17th, which he double-bogeyed, and the par-four 18th, where he made triple.

His 43 strokes coming home matched his career worst total for nine holes, his only other 43 coming on the front nine in the second round of the 1996 Tour Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Woods, a four-time winner at Bay Hill, shot 76 to tie for 22nd at three over.

Collated final round scores and totals in the USPGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida, United States

(USA unless stated, par 70):

272 Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 68 67 67

274 Rocco Mediate 66 65 76 67

275 Vaughn Taylor 64 71 67 73

276 Ben Curtis 68 67 69 72

277 John Rollins 69 65 72 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 66 69 71 71, Tom Lehman 67 69 69 72

278 Luke Donald (Eng) 68 71 70 69

279 Jerry Kelly 67 69 70 73, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 66 70 70 73, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 67 72 72

280 Shaun Micheel 67 68 71 74, Kyle Reifers 70 68 72 70

281 Paul Casey (Eng) 64 70 73 74, Sean O'Hair 66 70 72 73, Boo Weekley 68 72 69 72, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 69 70 70 72

282 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 68 70 75, Bart Bryant 70 68 70 74, Ernie Els (Rsa) 69 70 71 72, Scott Verplank 67 73 70 72

283 Tiger Woods 64 73 70 76, Chad Campbell 71 69 68 75, Bo Van Pelt 67 70 70 76, Chris Couch 68 70 69 76, Brandt Snedeker 70 70 69 74, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 68 71 72 72

284 Robert Gamez 69 73 70 72, Pat Perez 67 72 76 69, Mark Calcavecchia 67 73 72 72, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 67 71 74

285 Jason Dufner 67 70 72 76, Robert Allenby (Aus) 70 73 71 71, Stewart Cink 70 69 69 77, Tom Pernice Jnr. 70 71 74 70

286 Phil Mickelson 72 68 72 74, Skip Kendall 72 68 73 73, Frank Lickliter II 69 68 73 76, D.J. Trahan 70 68 73 75, Jason Bohn 69 71 72 74, Mark Wilson 68 71 76 71

287 Zach Johnson 71 72 71 73, Woody Austin 67 74 73 73, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 66 73 71 77

288 Brian Gay 68 70 73 77, Colin Montgomerie (Sco) 70 73 73 72, Mark Hensby (Aus) 72 69 74 73, Peter Lonard (Aus) 68 71 74 75, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 72 70 75 71, Paul Goydos 70 70 75 73, Ryan Armour 71 70 77 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 70 70 73 75

289 Charles Warren 68 73 73 75, Paul Azinger 73 65 76 75, Steve Elkington (Aus) 70 73 73 73

290 Brad Faxon 71 69 78 72, Bob Estes 73 68 71 78, Craig Kanada 69 70 73 78, Cliff Kresge 69 70 75 76, Charles Howell III 71 71 72 76

291 Camilo Villegas (Col) 70 69 75 77

292 Stephen Marino 67 70 76 79

293 Tim Herron 70 72 76 75, Heath Slocum 72 70 74 77

294 Richard S Johnson (Swe) 70 71 76 77, Joey Sindelar 68 75 72 79, Brett Quigley 72 71 72 79

295 Troy Matteson 70 73 77 75

296 Steve Flesch 68 72 75 81

297 Tom Johnson 71 69 79 78, John Mallinger 70 72 73 82

298 Jeff Quinney 72 69 76 81, Mike Weir (Can) 70 72 79 77, Eric Axley 71 72 78 77

300 Justin Leonard 70 73 79 78, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 72 69 79 80

303 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 72 77 84, J.B. Holmes 71 72 77 83