BLAINE, Minn. -- David Edwards calls golf "a crazy game."

After a crazy start Sunday, Edwards kept his cool and went on to win the 3M Championship for his first Champions Tour victory.

The 50-year-old Edwards fell five shots out of the lead after he missed 18-inch putts on Nos. 1 and 2. But he used birdies on six of the final 11 holes, two on 40-foot putts, to cap a surge that netted a career-best $262,000.

"It's exciting, it's a relief - it's a lot of things," said Edwards, who won the last of his three PGA TOUR titles in 1993. "I've been looking forward to this for a long time and working hard to prepare to play on this TOUR.

"This game is crazy. I made a couple of 40-foot putts, and missed a couple of 2-footers. But they're all the same value. You just have to keep playing."

Edwards, making his 11th start on the Champions Tour, birdied Nos. 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13 to reach 11 under. He added four pars and closed with another birdie for a 5-under 67 and a 12-under 204 total on the TPC Twin Cities.

Craig Stadler and Brad Bryant tied for second, two strokes back at 10 under. Stadler finished with a 68 for his third straight runner-up finish in the event, while Bryant shot a 67.

Edwards was playing in the final group for the third time this season. He opened with bogey 5s on the first two holes to drop five strokes out of the lead. He birdied 3 and 4, but bogeyed the par-5 sixth.

"After that bogey, it seemed like it just wasn't my day," Edwards said. "I didn't think I had too much of a chance to win."

Edwards was still four shots back through seven holes, but charged up the leaderboard with his birdie run, which included 40-foot birdies putts on Nos. 9 and 13. When playing partner Curtis Strange, the second-round leader, triple-bogeyed the 10th hole to fall out of the lead, the door was open wide for Edwards.

David Edwards posted eight birdies Sunday for the win. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

"I didn't really look at the leaderboard and see I was leading until the 14th hole," Edwards said. "I just tried to stay aggressive because I knew there were some birdie holes left."

After Stadler missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 18, Edwards needed a par on the par-5 closing hole for the victory. He put his third shot within 12 feet and rolled in the birdie putt to end any drama.

Edwards had three top-fives in his first 10 events on the Tour, including a second-place finish to Dana Quigley five weeks ago in the Greater Kansas City Golf Classic.

It's the sixth time the 3M has produced a first-time tour winner. Vicente Fernandez (1996), Leonard Thompson (1998), Ed Dougherty (2000), Bruce Lietzke (2001) and Wayne Levi (2003) also won their first tour titles in the event.

Strange started the round with a three-stroke lead at 10 under. Strange still led by one through nine holes before he unraveled on No 10. He finished with a 76 to tie for 14th at 6 under.

Tom Kite, the 2004 winner, finished with a 64 - the lowest final-round score in tournament history - to tie for fourth at 9 under. Kite's bogey-free round included eight birdies. Gil Morgan (67) also finished at 9 under.

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