Steve Stricker won the Northern Trust Open for his fourth victory
since May to move to No. 2 in the world ranking on Sunday.
Starting the final round Sunday with a six-shot lead at
Riviera, Stricker never had it easy. He led by only two shots after
five holes, and still didn't feel as though he had the tournament
wrapped up until he tapped in for a 1-under 70. He finished two
ahead of Luke Donald.
Donald had all the momentum on the front nine until missing
consecutive putts inside 10 feet. He never got any closer the rest
of the day and closed with a 66. Dustin Johnson had a 66 and J.B.
Holmes shot 67 to tie for third.
Stricker, the runner-up at Riviera last year, has won four of
his last 15 starts and is No. 2 for the second time in his career.
He won for the eighth time in his career, and once again
welled up with tears after the victory. This time, all it took was
a reminder of where he was four years ago, when he lost his PGA
Tour card.
"I remember where I was and where I am now," Stricker said.
"It doesn't get any better."
Stricker didn't make it easy on himself, having to grind for
pars as Donald kept pouring in birdies. But after Donald missed two
short birdie attempts, Stricker fired off two straight birdies to
restore a comfortable margin.
He finished at 16-under 268 and earned $1.152 million to go
over $25 million for his career.
Donald made birdie on the 17th to again trim the lead to two
shots, but that was as close as he ever got. He closed with a 66.
Dustin Johnson had a 66 and J.B. Holmes made a late surge for a 67
to tie for third.
"It was hard today," Stricker said. "I aged a lot out there.
It was a grind from the get-go."
Phil Mickelson, trying to become the first player to win
three straight years at Riviera, had a 73 and finished 14 shots
behind.
Even as he left the course Saturday night leading by five
shots, Stricker said he expected a long, tough day.
The long day came from having to return in the morning
darkness to finish off his third round. With temperatures in the
40s before the sun climbed over Sunset Boulevard, he rolled in a
30-foot birdie putt on the 15th, hit 7-iron to 4 feet for birdie on
the 16th and led by seven shots until a bogey on the 18th, his
first in 32 holes. Stricker completed a 66 for a six-shot lead.
Stricker missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the easy opening hole
and looked tight over the next hour as Donald applied enormous
pressure. Donald had birdie chances inside 20 feet for the first
eight holes, converting three of them. His 6-footer at No. 5 pulled
him within two shots, and he followed that with a tee shot to 10
feet on the sixth.
Donald had the momentum. He just never had the lead.
He missed the birdie chance at No. 6, missed another birdie
putt from 8 feet on the next hole, and that was his best shot.
Stricker birdied the next two holes from inside 10 feet to take a
three-shot lead to the back nine.
Stricker still didn't look as good as he did the first three
rounds, missing greens to the left. But he had five consecutive
one-putt greens and continued to get himself out of minor jams.
Stricker last held the No. 2 ranking in September after
winning in Boston - although he likely still would have to win at
three more times to catch Tiger Woods, who is out indefinitely as
he tries to save his marriage.
Half of Stricker's eight career victories have come in the
last eight months dating to his playoff win at Colonial. He turns
43 later this month, and shows no sign of letting up.
Kevin Na shot a 66 to tie for 10th, enough to get him into
the top 64 and qualify for the Match Play Championship in two
weeks.
