AKRON, Ohio -- When Tiger Woods was a little boy growing up in southern California, he and his father used to chase their golf balls into twilight all the time.

It would be pitch black, and the two would still try to eke out a few more holes. So dark, in fact, they'd have to call the shots so they'd have an idea of where the ball would land.

Sunday brought back memories for Woods. Only this time, flashbulbs and cigarette lighters illuminated the 18th hole at Firestone Country Club as Woods emerged from the shadows to a chorus of raucous cheers to collect a $1 million check and his third World Golf Championships title.

After a weather delay of nearly three hours, it was so dark Woods couldn't see the flagstick as he aimed his 8-iron toward the green. But he did his father proud as the ball landed 2 feet from the flag to punctuate a record-breaking victory and a successful title defense in the NEC Invitational.

"I could hear (the reaction)," Woods said. "I just couldn't see it."

Woods finished with a 72-hole total of 21-under-par 259 -- which was two strokes off the PGA TOUR's all-time scoring record and a new mark at Firestone. The 24-year-old had never before gone as low as a professional, and he was rewarded with an 11-stroke victory over Justin Leonard and Phillip Price of Wales.

The victory was the eighth of the year for Woods and the 23rd of a pro career that is exactly four years old this week. Woods won for the second time in two weeks and the fifth time in his last seven starts -- a streak that includes the last three major championships.

Sunday marked Woods' third successful title defense of 2000 -- which makes him the first player to do so since Johnny Miller in 1975. He has three more chances to increase that total as he defends the National Car Rental Golf Classic at Disney World Resort, THE TOUR Championship and the American Express Championship in successive weeks to end the season.

Woods took most of the suspense out of the NEC Invitational when he tied the course record with a 61 in the second round and moved into a nine-stroke advantage through three.

But Hal Sutton, who limped badly as he missed the cut in the PGA Championship, came back strong. Playing in the final group with Woods on Sunday he birdied three of his first five holes to apply pressure briefly. When Woods bogeyed the seventh hole, his lead was just five.

But Sutton made bogey from the gaping bunker at the eighth hole while Woods made birdie -- his first in the last 22 holes. And for all intents and purposes, that was the last serious challenge the No. 1 player in the world would entertain on Sunday.

"I just wanted to keep playing solid golf," Woods said. "And I just felt like if I shot even par for the day, Hal would have to shoot 61 to force a playoff, which I knew he could do under these conditions. But I knew the greens would be a little spikey and that would be hard to do.

"So I felt if I could just hang in there -- and No. 8 was a big putt I made. (That) turned the momentum around with a two-shot swing."

Price, who ranked 75th in the world entering the NEC Invitational, mounted a bit of a charge as he played the front side in 32 and made birdie on the 12th hole to pull within six. But Woods answered with one of his own there, and Price made three bogeys in his last four holes to drop back into a tie with Leonard.

"I'm disappointed that I did not finish it off," said Price, who added it was so dark he could not see his two approach shots on the 18th hole. "I'll probably stew on that one a little bit. It would have been nice to have finished it off clean.

"But I think there were so many good things that came of it, I'm going to try to dismiss the tied-second."

Price -- and every other player in the star-studded field -- had the choice to stop the action as darkness settled over Firestone Sunday evening. But the man who had never finished higher than tied for 55th in a major championship just wanted to finish it off.

"I was anxious when I started," said Price, who very well may have secured his 2001 PGA TOUR playing privilege -- should he want it -- with the $437,500 he earned for second. "I can't stress enough that it was so different for me.

"I felt like I was put into a very deep level, and I struggled at the end. You know, maybe I just need more time -- (I've) just got to get used to it."

Woods had just hit his approach shot to the first hole when play was suspended on Sunday. When play resumed at 5:14 p.m. ET, he thought the best they'd do was finish 13 holes. But Firestone drained well, and there was a sense of purpose from the players at the end.

"Because of the lead I had, I think everyone just wanted to get in and finish it," Woods said. "If the tournament was tied, I guarantee we would have stopped."

Instead, there was no stopping Woods.