STRICKER WINS DEUTSCHE
In a wild finish on the TPC Boston, where a half-dozen players came to the par-5 18th hole with hopes of winning,
Steve Stricker finished with birdies on 17 and 18 for a 4-under 67 and a one-shot victory.
His third victory of the season moved him up to a career-high No. 2 in the world ranking. And he replaced Tiger Woods
atop the FedEx Cup standings.
It was a revolving door atop the leaderboard throughout the back nine. Jason Dufner was the first player to break out
of the tie with a two-putt birdie on the 18th.
Scott Verplank birdied four holes in a row to tie for the lead. Stricker then knocked in a 15-foot birdie on the 17th.
Then, he split the middle of the 18th fairway and hit a hybrid just over the green. He hit a delicate chip to tap-in range
for the win.
Padraig Harrington recovered from two poor drives that cost him three penalty strokes and had a chance to join Dufner
and Verplank but he missed a 10-foot eagle putt on 18. He shot 68 and tied for fourth with Masters champion Angel Cabrera
who missed the 18th fairway and made par and Dustin Johnson, who failed to get up-and-down from behind the 18th green.
Stricker finished at 17-under and earned $1.35 million. He also built a 909-point lead over Woods in the FedEx Cup with
two tournaments remaining. Because the points are reset after next week in Chicago, Stricker is assured of being no worse
than the No. 2 seed in the Tour Championship with a chance to win the $10 million prize.
Onto the BMW Championshiop. Camillo Villegas defends.
PETTERSEN BREAKTHROUGHS
Suzann Pettersen won her first LPGA title in two years by winning the Canadian Womens
Open. Pettersen closed with a 1-under 70 for a five-shot victory over Momoko Ueda,
Morgan Pressel, Ai Miyazato, Karrie Webb, and Angela Stanford.
None of those players were able to apply much late pressure, making the walk around
the final few holes feel more like a coronation for Pettersen.
Despite the large margin of victory, Pettersen did have some tense moments midway
through the final round. Her lead over Webb had been whittled down to three shots when she
missed the green at the 10th hole.
However, Pettersen calmly stepped up and sank the chip shot. She then went on to get two
more birdies to rebuild her big lead.
Webb made a run at Pettersen on the final day by making three birdies over her opening
five holes to closing the gap to three shots. Pressel also tried to make a run, but
couldn't make up all the strokes.
Next up is the P&G Beauty NW Arkansas Classic. Seon Hwa Lee defends.
SLUMAN DEFENDS
Jeff Sluman overcame a six-stroke deficit Sunday at Pebble Beach to successfully defend
his Walmart First Tee Open title. Sluman aced the fifth hole and finished with a 4-under 68
for a two-stroke victory.
Sluman, who started the day tied for fifth after a second-round 73, had four birdies and
the hole-in-one on the 187-yard fifth to finish at 10-under.
Gene Jones shot a 70 to finish second. Tom Lehman and Mark O'Meara followed at 7 under, and
second-round leader Loren Roberts tied for fifth with David Eger and Olin Browne at 6 under.
The Champions Tour returns in two weeks for the Greater Hickory Classic at Rock Barn.
R.W. Eaks defends.
NOREN WINS MASTERS
Alexander Noren won the Omega European Masters by two shots over Bradley Dredge
on Sunday, shooting a 6-under 66 that included an eagle on No. 15.
Noren finished at 20-under 264 to hold off 2006 winner Dredge, who shot a
Ross McGowan had a 65 to finish third at 267, two ahead of Miguel Angel
Jimenez (67).
The European Tour moves to Germany for the Mercedes-Benz European
Championship. Robert Karlsson is the defending champion.
MERRITT WINS MEXICO OPEN
(AP)—Troy Merritt won the Mexico Open on Sunday for his first Nationwide Tour victory, beating
Australia's Adam Bland with a 20-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff. The 23-year-old
Merritt won when Bland missed his 8-foot birdie try.
Merritt and Bland finished regulation at 15-under 273 in the soggy, weather-plagued tournament at
El Bosque Country Club. Merritt closed with a 3-under 69, while Bland broke the course record with
a career-best 8-under 64.
England's Matthew Richardson (67) was third, two shots back.
Next week the Nationwide Tour is in Utah for the Utah Championship. The defending champion is
Brendon Todd.
The LPGA Sybase Classic may be moving out of New Jersey. Club president and tournament director Tony
Vespa disclosed Saturday that Sybase officials are considering changes to the tournament and have decided
to leave Upper Montclair Country Club after a three-year stay.
Vespa said the club had a three-year contract and spoke with Octagon Golf, which manages the event for
the LPGA Tour, about extending it another three years provided that Sybase signed on. However, Octagon
informed Vespa last week that Sybase was looking at a different format and a different venue.
The LPGA Tour has lost seven tournament since 2007, and commissioner Carolyn Bivens resigned under pressure.
The Captain's picks were made for the President's Cup to be held in October. Captain Fred Couples picks were no surprise as he selected U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover and Hunter Mahan.
Captain Greg Norman's selection for the International team were a bit surprising with the pick of Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old sensation who has won four times on the Japan Golf Tour in the last calendar year. And for his second pick Norman selected fellow Aussie Adam Scott. Scott has endured the worst season of his career.
Scott, was No. 3 in the world a year ago, but he has plunged to No. 53 and barely qualified for the FedEx Cup playoffs. He was eliminated in the first round, and conceded he probably would be left off the team.
The rest of the International team consists of Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Yang and Tim Clark.
The other Americans are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O'Hair, Anthony Kim and Justin Leonard.
That's it for this week.
See you next time