NORTON, Mass. - Olin Browne got a sponsor's exemption to the Deutsche Bank Championship, although he ultimately earned a spot in the field when enough top players didn't enter or pulled out.

It was typical of how the 46-year-old Browne has tried to survive the last two years on the PGA Tour.

Because he failed to keep his card, Browne had to beg for exemptions or settle for ordinary events that had room for someone of his low ranking. He was 119th on the money list at the start of the week. Another year outside the top 125, and the few invitations he got would surely dry up.

"At some point, you have to validate those invitations," Browne said. "You have to play well."

Browne took care of all those worries Monday afternoon, emerging from a five-way tie for the lead by closing with a 4-under 67 for a one-shot victory over Jason Bohn.

The third victory of his career came with all kinds of perks.

Browne, who finished at 14-under 270, earned $990,000 - more than he had made in any single season. He also got a two-year exemption on tour, meaning he can play wherever and whenever he wants through the 2007 season. That starts with Kapalua in January at the winners-only Mercedes Championships.

But the greatest satisfaction came from validation.

Determined to either get better or give up, he hooked up with Houston swing coach Jim Hardy some 18 months ago, a big risk considering changes take time, and Browne didn't have a lot of that.

He saw signs of progress when he shared the 36-hole lead at the U.S. Open and played in the second-to-last group in the final round at Pinehurst No. 2. Even though he shot 80, he hit the ball great, and chalked that up to Pinehurst being tough and the U.S. Open being a brutal test.

Then came the TPC at Boston.

"It's a little bit different feeling to start out with a lead and play with it all day long, and then finish it off," said Browne, who won for the first time since the 1999 Colonial. "I couldn't be happier about the way I played."

The five-way tie for the lead was the most on the PGA Tour going into the final round since the 1983 Colonial. Browne and Bohn quickly pulled away with three birdies on their first seven holes.

Browne kept right on rolling, hitting a 7-iron that drew toward the flag and stopped 6 feet away for birdie at No. 10, then saving par with a delicate chip from a downhill lie that tumbled down a ridge to within 5 feet.

Bohn, who won the B.C. Open in July by shooting 66 in the final round, hit into a hazard well to the right of the ninth fairway and had to scramble for bogey, then missed the 10th green long and chipped well past the hole for another.

He never caught up.

None of the other leaders had a chance. And neither did Tiger Woods.

Hometown favorite Billy Andrade fell apart with a double bogey when he hit into the water on No. 6 and had a 41 on the front nine. John Rollins shot 40 on the front nine to also disappear. Carl Petterson slowly tumbled from contention, unable to make birdies as Brown and Bohn surged ahead.

Woods didn't show up on the first tee until 22 seconds before his group was announced, attributing that to a shuttle driver who stopped instead of slowed at every speed bump. Then he hit a major roadblock, taking double bogey on the first hole with a sand wedge in his hand.

He wound up with a 71 and tied for 40th, ending his streak of seven straight finishes in the top 5.

"To be honest with you, I really don't care right now," Woods said. "I'm done. I've had a very long summer. I haven't taken hardly any days off this summer, so it will be nice to actually get some time off and let my mind and body just kind of heal."

Browne plodded along, building a three-shot lead when Bohn faltered, losing two of those shots when he bogeyed from a fairway bunker on No. 15, and Bohn, playing in the final group, made birdie on the 14th.

Browne effectively ended the tournament with a 7-iron from 163 off an awkward lie to 15 feet, which he made for birdie for a two-stroke margin. Bohn needed to eagle the par-5 18th to force a playoff. Faced with a shot he otherwise would have laid up, he hit a hybrid right of the green, and his chip never had a chance. He shot 68.

"Today was a big stepping stone for me, playing in the final group, first time ever on the PGA Tour," Bohn said. "Even though I didn't come out on top, I still sucked it up and I played with a lot of heart."

Reno-Tahoe Open champion Vaughn Taylor shot a 68 to finish third at 10-under 274. Charles Howell III had a 67 and joined three others who finished another shot behind.

Browne, who used to spend his summers on Cape Cod and started his golfing career on New England circuits, headed home to south Florida happier than he has been in quite some time.

"I'm digging this," he said.

And best of all, he won't have to write any letters asking for sponsor's exemptions for a while.