Steve Stricker wins the Deutsche Bank Championship
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Bill Jempty | Monday, September 7, 2009 |
It was his third PGA Tour win in 2009. From AP-
Given another chance to win a playoff event, Steve Stricker delivered back-to-back birdies to cap off a wild Labor Day finish and win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday, moving past Tiger Woods to the top of the FedEx Cup standings.
One week after missing a 10-foot par putt to force overtime, Stricker rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the 17th hole, then hit a delicate chip to tap-in range on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 67 one-shot victory over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank.
The victory was his third of the year, and moved Stricker to a career-high No. 2 in the world ranking.
Better yet, he has a 909-point lead over Woods in the FedEx Cup with two tournaments remaining. Because the points will be reset after next week in Chicago, Stricker is assured of being no worse than the No. 2 seed and will have a chance at the Tour Championship to go after the $10 million prize.
Stricker’s other triumphs in 2009 were at Colonial and The John Deere Classic. He also came close to winning the Barclays just a week ago and the Bob Hope early in the season.
Stricker has had a very interesting career with some great peaks but some deep valleys also. 2009 is his second multi-win year. His first was in 1996. He had three wins by 2001 but didn’t win again till 2007. A crazy fact about Stricker- he won consecutive comeback player of the year awards. How can a player come back two years in a row?
The Fedex Cup is playing itself out and my apathy for this contrived gimmick is no less strong than it was when PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem first announced it in 2006. Golf doesn’t have playoffs, it has major championships.
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