Steve Stricker never lost hope, even when all the signs were stacked against him. He had gone 6 1/2 years and 146 tournaments since his last victory.
Four times this year, he wasted prime chances to pose with the trophy. The worst feeling Sunday at The Barclays was seeing K.J. Choi pour in two birdie putts that measured a combined 95 feet that gave him the lead and left Stricker destined for more heartache.
In a stunning turnaround, the tears he shed on the 18th green were from sheer joy.
Stricker birdied four of his last five holes to close with a 2-under-par 69, turning a one-shot deficit into a two-shot victory over Choi and getting the inaugural PGA Tour playoffs off to a rousing start – even with Tiger Woods sitting this one out.
An emotional player, Stricker could barely speak to the television cameras.
“It was hard, but it was fun,” Stricker said as tears streamed down the side of his face. “I never knew if I was going to win again.”
Stricker finished at 16-under 268 and moved atop the FedEx Cup standings by 2,050 points over Choi, who closed with a 70. Rory Sabbatini birdied the final hole for a 68 and third place, moving him up to No. 3 in the playoff race.
“I’m going to take this as a good experience and try to do my best in the next three tournaments,” Choi said.
Woods skipped the first of four playoff events and tumbled to No. 4, nearly 5,000 points behind Stricker.
Geoff Ogilvy, playing down the road from his U.S. Open title last year at Winged Foot, closed with a 69 and tied for fourth with Mark Calcavecchia (65) and Ernie Els (68).
LPGA: Lorena Ochoa won her third straight LPGA title with a five-stroke victory in the Safe- way Classic in Portland, Ore.
Ochoa shot a 71 in the final round for a 12-under 204 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club for her sixth victory of the season.
In-Bee Park (64), Christina Kim (69), Sophie Gustafson (75) and Mhairi McKay (72) all finished at 7-under 209.
The top-ranked Ochoa, from Mexico, won the Canadian Women’s Open in Edmonton, Alberta, the previous week. Before that, she won the Women’s British Open for her first major title.
“It’s hard to describe how I’m feeling today,” she said. “It was a great week and a great day.”
Champions Tour: Denis Watson eagled the second hole of a seven-man playoff to win the Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Wash.
Playing No. 18 for the third time in an hour, Watson hit a 3-wood to about 18 feet, then made the putt, giving an emphatic fist pump as the ball dropped to end the largest playoff in Champions Tour history.
Evergreen’s Craig Stadler missed a long eagle putt from the front of the green, and R.W. Eaks missed his 12-footer for eagle.
Gil Morgan, Joe Ozaki, Dana Quigley and David Eger also finished at 9-under for the tournament.
Amateur: Colt Knost won the 107th U.S. Amateur Championship in Daly City, Calif., holding off Michael Thompson 2 and 1 to win both of the nation’s biggest amateur golf events in two months.
Knost, who played at Southern Methodist, is only the second golfer to win both the Amateur and the U.S. Public Links titles in the same year. Ryan Moore did it in 2004.
European PGA: England’s Ross Fisher won his first European Tour title, a one-stroke victory at the Dutch Open in which he birdied the final hole in Zaandvoort, Netherlands.
