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On the money

E-mail|Link Posted by Jim Hoban, Globe Staff September 7, 2009 05:25 PM

NORTON - Steve Stricker could hear the roars from the groups ahead of him. The huge galleries at the Deutsche Bank Championship saved the biggest one for him.

Stricker won the PGA Tour's second playoff event, depositing the $1.35 million winner's paycheck after making clutch birdies on the final two holes.

The emotional Stricker, one of the most popular players among his peers on Tour, took over the top spot in the FedEx Cup points standings from Tiger Woods, who electrified the TPC Boston crowd with a final-round 63, settling for a tie for 11th.

Stricker's birdie on the par-5 18th left him at 17-under-par 267, a stroke ahead of Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank. Dufner (65-268) was on the range hitting balls in hopes of a playoff while Stricker was about to putt out.

Scoring conditions were ideal once again, with 36 of 73 players shooting in the 60s, highlighted by Woods, who made two bogeys on the back nine, foiling his chance at the course record of 62 (set by Vijay Singh and Mike Weir).

The fireworks started early, with Woods sizzling to a front-nine 6-under 30. But Woods knew his 12-under total was not going to win. "Soft greens, no wind, and pretty benign pins; they'll go low," Woods said, referring to the rest of the field, and they did, most notably Padraig Harrington, who got to 16 under after a birdie on No. 9, a front in which he shot 4-under 32.
But like the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship, Harrington made a big number down the stretch, a double bogey on 12 derailing the Irishman's momentum.

Stricker stayed the course. He began the day in a three-way tie for first, then birdied the par-5 second and the par-4 fourth to get to 15 under. Stricker's only bogey came at the par-4 sixth, then he ran off 10 straight pars. With Jason Dufner in the clubhouse at 16 under, Stricker had to make his move.

"There was a lot of guys in the mix," said Stricker, who was staring at a three-way playoff when Scott Verplank rolled in a birdie on 18 to get to 16 under. "And I just found a way to get it done."