STRICKER ENDS SIX-YEAR NO WIN SPELL
BY LIFTING "THE BARCLAYS"
American PGA Tour player Steve Stricker ended a no-win spell of six years, covering 146 tournaments in all, when he won "The Barclays" tournament today at Harrison, New York State.
Stricker had let four winning opportunities pass him by earlier this season. But this one was not going to slip through his fingers. In fact, he grabbed it by birdieing four of his last five holes for a two-under-par 69 and two-stroke victory K J Choi.
"It was hard, but it was fun," Stricker said as tears streamed down his face. "I never knew if I was going to win again."
When his final birdie putt dropped from eight feet, Stricker raised his arms and gave a hug to his caddie Tom Matthews, who first caddied for him when he won the 2001 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship in Australia.
Stricker has climbed to fifth in the world after his thrilling victory at "The Barclays."
Stricker jumps nine places in the latest world rankings, while runner-up Choi is into the top 10 for the first time as well, improving from 11th to eighth.
Tiger Woods, who returns to action this week, has now held the No 1 position for a total of 458 weeks.
HOW THEY FINISHED AT "THE BARCLAYS"
Par 284 (4 x 71)
268 Steve Stricker 67 67 65 69
270 KJ Choi (Kor) 64 66 70 70
271 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 63 71 69 68
272 Mark Calcavecchia 67 75 65 65, Ernie Els (Rsa) 65 71 68 68, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 68 66 69 69
273 Phil Mickelson 67 70 69 67, Rich Beem 64 68 69 72
274 Jerry Kelly 67 70 69 68, Robert Garrigus 70 70 68 66, Ian Poulter (Eng) 70 67 70 67
275 Steve Flesch 65 72 67 71, Woody Austin 69 68 66 72
276 Adam Scott (Aus) 67 69 72 68, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 68 70 68, Heath Slocum 66 73 67 70
277 Hunter Mahan 70 69 62 76, Anthony Kim 68 68 71 70, Bob Heintz 69 73 70 65, Tim Clark (Rsa) 69 68 72 68
278 Arron Oberholser 67 70 68 73, Tim Petrovic 69 69 68 72, Ryan Armour 72 67 70 69, Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 70 73 67
279 Nick Watney 70 72 68 69, Jason Dufner 73 69 68 69, Zach Johnson 68 71 70 70, Stewart Cink 72 67 73 67, Kenny Perry 69 67 68 75, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 71 67 70 71, Brett Quigley 67 73 72 67, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 67 70 73, Jim Furyk 70 69 71 69, Sean O'Hair 73 69 69 68
280 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 69 72 69 70, Boo Weekley 71 67 72 70, Matt Kuchar 69 68 69 74, Scott Verplank 68 71 69 72, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 71 66 70 73, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 71 68 70 71
281 J.B. Holmes 76 66 65 74, Mike Weir (Can) 69 73 72 67, Davis Love III 69 69 72 71, Brian Gay 65 73 72 71, Douglas Labelle 69 73 71 68, Briny Baird 66 75 71 69, Frank Lickliter II 71 69 70 71
282 Charley Hoffman 69 72 70 71, Tim Herron 71 70 71 70, Bill Haas 68 68 72 74, Paul Goydos 71 69 66 76, Fred Funk 71 69 73 69, Troy Matteson 70 71 70 71
283 Brian Davis (Eng) 68 71 70 74, John Rollins 71 71 70 71, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 70 67 77 69, Corey Pavin 68 73 72 70, J.P. Hayes 75 67 71 70, Cliff Kresge 69 70 72 72
284 Dean Wilson 74 68 68 74, Joe Durant 71 69 72 72, Vaughn Taylor 71 71 77 65, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 68 68 74 74, D.J. Trahan 73 68 70 73
285 Bob Estes 70 72 71 72, Bart Bryant 72 70 70 73, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 71 69 71 74, Johnson Wagner 73 69 76 67
286 Nathan Green (Aus) 72 70 74 70, Steve Marino 72 69 74 71
287 Jason Gore 72 67 75 73
288 Jeff Maggert 66 73 73 76, John Mallinger 68 72 74 74, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 65 72 74 77
290 Rocco Mediate 69 73 74 74