Boston, September 08: Steve Stricker birdied the last two holes to win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday and overtake Tiger Woods atop the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff standings.
A handful of players had a chance to triumph at the par-five 18th, and veteran Stricker came through.
He chipped from behind the green to two feet and tapped in for a birdie that capped a four-under par 67. Stricker finished with a 17-under total of 267.
“I finished one off,” said Stricker, who had drained a 15-footer for birdie at 17.
He avoided a playoff with Jason Dufner, who shot 65, and Scott Verplank, who birdied his last four holes to thrust himself into contention with a 67. They shared second place on 16-under 268.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (68), Argentina’s Angel Cabrera (65) and Dustin Johnson (66) were tied on 269.
Stricker claimed his third victory of the season. His move to the top of the FedEx Cup standings insures he will have a shot at the 10 million-dollar prize on offer in the series.
Stricker’s victory came a week after his runner-up finish at The Barclays, the first playoff event.
“It has been a blast, and I want to keep riding it out,” said a characteristically emotional Stricker. “I’m just thrilled to death to be playing the way I’m playing.”
The final round, on the US Labor Day holiday, saw eight players hold at least a share of the lead at some point.
Dufner two-putted from 40 feet for birdie at the last to be the first in the clubhouse at 16-under.
When Verplank narrowly missed an eagle putt the possibility of a playoff loomed.
Stricker found the fairway at 18, but his second shot was over the green. His fine chip left him a tap-in, however, for the victory.
Woods, who started the day nine shots adrift, carded a storming eight-under 63 that gave him the clubhouse lead for a long stretch. But Woods, who finished tied for 11th, said he knew he had left himself too much to do.
“Certainly from where I was at, I couldn’t win the tournament, even if I shot 60 or something like that,” Woods said.
“Whether you can win a tournament or not, it doesn’t matter,” he added. “You go out there and post a low number, as low as you’ve got for that day … You post a low round and see what happens. You can feel good about it, you know?”
Stricker will move to a career-high number two in the world rankings. And he now has a 909-point lead over Woods in the FedEx Cup table with two tournaments remaining.
Even so, Stricker said of Woods “He’s the man, still. We’re taking up space in his world.”
—Agencies