Win propels Stricker to FedEx Cup lead
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NORTON, Mass. -- In golf parlance, it's called "going to school." This serves as an apt description, since there's some learning involved, and definitely some reading. If you want to get technical, maybe a little geometry, too.
It happens any time one competitor gets to watch the line of his putt when a playing partner rolls one beforehand. Consider it this sport's equivalent to stealing signs in baseball -- only it's very much a legal part of the game.
With a chance to force a playoff on the final hole of last week's Barclays tournament, Steve Stricker went to school, but wound up sitting in detention. After witnessing Heath Slocum's 21-foot par-saving putt, Stricker missed an attempt of his own from a comparable line some 10 feet closer.
Not to overplay the school-time analogy, but at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday, he was faced with a similar test and passed with flying colors.
Trailing by a single stroke on the 17th green, Stricker looked on as Retief Goosen rolled an 18-foot birdie putt that held its line until tailing off at the very end. Armed with such knowledge for his effort from 3 feet nearer the hole, Stricker read this one perfectly, jarring it for birdie and a share of the lead.
"I think it was huge," he later said. "I mean, I watched it very closely. You know, that's what you need sometimes, for things like that to work out to win a tournament."
And that's exactly what happened some 10 minutes after that putt on 17, as Stricker found the greenside rough in two on the par-5 final hole, then chipped to a foot and tapped in for the victory. Asked to compare this birdie attempt to the one that didn't drop at Liberty National, he quipped, "This one was more my length, I'll tell you that. I liked this 1 footer."
That was the final stroke in a round of 67 of 'em, the culmination of a week that also included scores of 63 and 65 while posting an eagle and 22 birdies at TPC Boston. In doing so, he erased the memory of the previous week's near-miss. Literally.
"I don't even remember last week," he cracked, and there may have been some truth in there, too.
When it was over and Stricker had clinched his third win this season, he was joined in a celebration on the 18th green by Jerry Kelly, who finished T-11, then stuck around to watch his buddy and fellow Wisconsin native seal the deal.
"He's playing so well right now and he's got such great confidence going," said Kelly, who was greeted by Stricker when he won in New Orleans earlier this year. "That's what this game is. This is a game of confidence and a game of just knowing you can do it. Right now, he knows he can do it and he's getting it done."
The numbers back up such a claim. With his seventh career victory -- and his first with Tiger Woods in the field -- Stricker passed the 14-time major champion in the current FedEx Cup points standings and, more importantly, is expected to move up to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Not bad for a guy who lost his PGA Tour playing privileges just four years ago, huh?
"I didn't keep my card at the end of the 2005 season," he said. "It was a process for me to start working at it and gain momentum. I need those steps, those ladders to build on, and that's what I've felt like it's been for me this year with the confidence and being in contention a lot."
If confidence was a tangible asset, Stricker would have it dripping off of his body right now. That means a lot for a guy who was earning a reputation earlier this season as someone who couldn't get the job done in the final round.
There was the Bob Hope Classic, a five-round event at which Stricker was the 72-hole leader only to shoot a final-day 77 -- 10 strokes higher than any previous round. And the Northern Trust Open, where he couldn't quite hang with eventual winner Phil Mickelson on Sunday. And the Transitions Championship, another one that left him close, but with no victory cigar.
He turned it around at Colonial back in May, defeating Steve Marino and Tim Clark in a playoff. Then he posted a blistering final-round 64 to claim the John Deere Classic six weeks later. To date, his season includes six top-three finishes, 10 top-10s and more than $6 million in official earnings -- all numbers that have some wondering whether he could surpass Woods in the Player of the Year race.
"I really don't think about it, Player of the Year honors, or anything like that," said Stricker, who has made the cut in 17 of 20 starts. "That has never entered my mind. We all know who the guy is out here. You know, I'm just happy to be in the position I'm at and with the opportunity to do something special for myself. He's done enough other special things, maybe let somebody else do something special."
Sobel: Hold The Phone
Tiger flirted with 59 before settling for a 63 on Monday at the Deutsche Bank. That display quieted the alarms about the state of his game heading into the final two playoff events, writes Jason Sobel. Blog
Stricker is fast becoming known as golf's answer to Derek Jeter -- a guy who turns it up a few notches when the playoffs are in full swing. In 10 career FedEx Cup appearances, he owns two wins, six top-10s, no finishes of worse than T-24 and no missed cuts, leaving him as one of only three players to compete in all 40 rounds of the three-year system.
It's a record that has some already referring to him as Mr. September.
He's OK with that moniker, but there is still one title for which Stricker would rather not be considered.
The two-time reigning Comeback Player of Year on the PGA Tour -- that's right; he's won two in a row -- isn't trying to go for an unprecedented three-peat, despite the fact he's coming off a winless season in 2008.
"It's flattering to have won it twice," he said with a laugh. "But I feel like I'm over that now. I really do."
Here in the first week of September, when most students are still getting acclimated to their studies, it's noteworthy that golf's most recent champion earned his title by going to school. He may be 42 years old, long past the days of sitting in class and completing homework assignments, but on Monday, Steve Stricker proved that, once again, he's made the grade.
Jason Sobel is a golf writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.
