SONOMA — Loren Roberts learned first-hand over the weekend just how serious of a budget crisis some California schools are experiencing.

Roberts, one of the top players on the Champions Tour who makes his home in Germantown, Tenn., found out from talking to three junior players and a parent of one of those golfers that a school district in the Sacramento area is cutting high school boys and girls golf from its interscholastic sports offerings.

“Completely dropping it,” said Roberts. “It just kind of hit me when I was talking to them. They were just great, great kids. You know, good, positive attitude.”

Roberts, a big supporter of junior golf, plans to help out. As the winner of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship Sunday at Sonoma Golf Club, he plans to give some of his prize money to high school golf in Sacramento, ensuring that the game stays alive.

“That’s what the Schwab Cup allows us to do,” Roberts said. “I know all the players that have been involved with the Schwab and won the Schwab over the years have donated their money or become involved with helping things like that.

“I think that’s one of the great things about the Schwab Cup. It’s fun to win it. It’s an awesome challenge to play all year long. But it allows us to do some things in communities that maybe we wouldn’t even know about.”

Roberts captured his second Schwab Cup in the last three years by 319 points over John Cook. Roberts won a $1 million annuity in the points-based program that rewards both top finishes and week-in, week-out consistency. Points are awarded to the top-10 finishers and ties at 25 official Champions Tour events.

Roberts becomes the fourth player to win two Schwab Cups. He took the lead at the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship during Week 22 and never relinquished it, shooting back-to-back 66’s on the weekend in Sonoma.

“I am more nervous playing this golf tournament than I am any of the major championships, just because if you’re in contention, you have a chance to win it,” said Roberts.

“This thing is like a tournament that’s gone on all year. You just hate to get to the end and have a bad week and blow it. Imagine a tournament stretched out over 10 months. You hate to work so hard all year and have an off week and blow the whole thing.

“So to me, there’s a lot more pressure on this event than really just an individual tournament, whether it be a major or regular event.”

Super finish for Cook

With his victory Sunday, John Cook won the fourth title of his Champions Tour career. It was also his second title in his last three starts.

Cook, an 11-time winner on the PGA Tour, learned a lot about the game from Ken Venturi and Tom Weiskopf.

“(Venturi) always said, ‘Just pay attention. You’re going to like golf courses and you’re probably not going to like some. But you’ve got to figure out how to play them and what the conditions are that you like to play in.’

“That’s something that I learned from Venturi and was seconded by Tom Weiskopf when I was at Ohio State. He always said, ‘Just pay attention. Pay attention to the golf course. Just look around.’

“It’s not so much that you have to play practice rounds to get your swing and all that. You’re just kind of getting the feel for what the air is doing, how the grass is compared to last week or even last year.”

Tournament Notebook

• Russ Cochran closed out a stellar rookie season with a second-place finish. A conditionally-exempt player at the start of the season, Cochran finished 17th on the final money list with $900,696, easily surpassing his best year on the PGA Tour ($684,851/1991). Cochran closed out his year with five top-10 finishes in his last six starts, earning $583,360 in those starts for an average of $97,227 per start in that span.

“This year’s just been fantastic for me,” said Cochran. “You visualize when you’re practicing, shots that you’re going to hit and how you’re going to hold up in pressure.

“I think the main thing I did this year was I said I’m not going to be happy with a little bit of success. If I get an opportunity, I’m going to play hard and stay focused pretty much all year.”

• For the third consecutive year, the most difficult hole at Sonoma was No. 4. The field averaged 3.123 (+.312) and it yielded just 11 birdies during the competition. The easiest was No. 13 with an average score of 4.447 (-.553).

• Andy Bean was unsuccessful in his bid to defend his 2008 title, but he closed out 2009 on a high note, shooting a 9-under-par 63 on Sunday. It matched his career low round on the Champions Tour.

• Bernhard Langer earned his second Arnold Palmer Award as the Champions Tour leading money winner. Langer closed out the year with $2,139,451. It marked the second straight year he was the only player with over $2 million in earnings. He won $2,035,073 in 2008.  

• Langer also earned his second consecutive Byron Nelson Award for the lowest scoring average on the Champions Tour. Langer’s scoring average for the year was 68.92, the lowest since Tom Watson in 2003 (68.81). Jay Haas was second at 69.25.

• After a one-year absence due to total hip replacement surgery, Tom Watson returned to finish T6. It was his seventh top-10 finish in eight appearances in this tournament.