US PGA TOUR REPORT, SCORES

Steve Stricker wins three-man play-off

finish to Crowne Plaza Invitational

Steve Stricker won a three-man play-off for the Crowne Plaza Invitational after a chip-in birdie at the 17th had put him back in the picture with Steve Marino and South African Tim Clark.
At the second extra hole, Stricker put his approach to within 3ft of the flagstick and knocked it in for a roller-coaster victory.
Tim Clark blew this tournament. Trying to shed his title as the man who’d won the most money on the US PGA Tour without ever winning an event, Clark squandered a two-shot lead with five holes left.
“I can’t take anything positive from today,” the 33-year-old South African said. “I have a lot of work to do when it comes to closing out golf tournaments.”
Stricker’s victory was pure relief, as evidenced by his choked-up interviews afterward. It’s not that he questioned his ability to close out tournaments, he was just ready to win after finishing second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh this year.
Now he has five career wins – and the No. 8 spot in the world ranking.
“I feel fortunate,” Stricker said, wearing the plaid jacket given to all winners at the Colonial Country Club. “I’ve been on the other end a couple times this year where you feel you’re going to win and end up losing. This feels very good.”
Stricker, who earned $1,116,000, led after two rounds with a 36-hole tournament record of 126. He moved back ahead with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 on Sunday, then followed with consecutive bogeys. When he missed a 4-footer on No. 16, Stricker seemed out of contention.
His chances looked even worse when he was in fluffy grass behind the 17th green.Then his chip rolled in.
“You need breaks to win, that’s why winning is so special, so hard to do,” he said.
Steve Marino was the third player in the play-off. He narrowly missed a long birdie putt on the first extra hole, then had a wild tee shot on the second extra hole.
Stricker and Marino shot 68s to match Clark (70) at 17-under 263.
Jason Day, a 21-year-old Australian who recently became a Colonial member, shot 69 and finished fourth at 264. He shot 65 in the other three rounds, but started with a bogey and wound up a stroke out of the play-off.
Another stroke back was Paul Casey, coming off a prestigious win in Europe that vaulted him to No. 3 in the world ranking. He opened the final round with three straight birdies but couldn’t build on it much.

HOW THEY FINISHED
Par 280 (4x70). Yardage: 7,054yd.
Prizemoney in brackets in $
1. Steve Stricker ($1,116,000) 63-63-69-68--263 (won play-0ff).
2. Steve Marino ($545,600) 66-67-62-68--263 (lost play-off).
2. Tim Clark ($545,600) 63-64-66-70--263 (lost play-off).
4. Jason Day (297,600) 65-65-65-69--264
5. Paul Casey (248,000) 66-67-66-66--265
6. Woody Austin (215,450) 63-68-67-68--266
6. Vijay Singh (215,450) 64-64-69-69--266
8. Ian Poulter (192,200) 66-69-65-68--268
9. Jim Furyk (161,200) 68-69-67-65--269
9. Kevin Sutherland (161,200) 66-67-68-68--269
9. Kevin Na (161,200) 66-68-66-69--269
9. Zach Johnson (161,200) 69-67-64-69--269
13. Charlie Wi (112,840) 67-70-66-67--270
13. Tom Lehman (112,840) 68-69-66-67--270
13. Jeff Overton (112,840) 69-67-65-69--270
13. Luke Donald (112,840) 68-65-67-70--270
13. Justin Leonard (112,840) 66-68-64-72--270
18. Corey Pavin (83,700) 71-69-66-65--271
18. John Senden (83,700) 68-67-67-69--271
18. Ted Purdy (83,700) 69-65-66-71--271
18. Sean O'Hair (83,700) 65-64-70-72--271
22. J.J. Henry (59,520) 71-68-67-66--272
22. Stewart Cink (59,520) 71-66-68-67--272
22. Nick O'Hern (59,520) 69-69-66-68--272
22. Mark Wilson (59,520) 67-71-66-68--272
22. Jason Bohn (59,520) 69-65-68-70--272
27. Brian Gay (42,160) 68-71-70-64--273
27. Hunter Mahan (42,160) 69-67-68-69--273
27. James Driscoll (42,160) 69-64-70-70--273
27. David Toms (42,160) 67-72-65-69--273
27. Stephen Ames (42,160) 68-68-67-70--273
27. Matt Kuchar (42,160) 70-68-65-70--273
27. Harrison Frazar (42,160) 67-69-66-71--273
34. Rory Sabbatini (30,646) 71-69-69-65--274
34. Justin Rose (30,646) 69-69-70-66--274
34. Brian Davis (30,646) 69-68-70-67--274
34. Scott Verplank (30,646) 70-68-68-68--274
34. Kenny Perry (30,646) 64-72-68-70--274
34. Ryan Palmer (30,646) 69-63-70-72--274
34. Tim Herron (30,646) 71-65-66-72--274
41. George McNeill (22,940) 68-70-68-69--275
41. Brandt Jobe (22,940) 71-69-66-69--275
41. Bob Estes (22,940) 71-66-68-70--275
41. Kevin Streelman (22,940) 68-70-66-71--275
41. Lucas Glover (22,940) 70-65-66-74--275
46. Michael Bradley (16,337) 70-67-73-66--276
46. Ben Crane (16,337) 71-68-70-67--276
46. Danny Lee (16,337) 69-67-71-69--276
46. Chris DiMarco (16,337) 69-71-67-69--276
46. Matt Bettencourt (16,337) 69-70-68-69--276
46. Bart Bryant (16,337) 70-68-67-71--276
46. Charley Hoffman (16,337) 73-67-65-71--276
46. Fredrik Jacobson (16,337) 68-70-66-72--276
54. Heath Slocum (14,136) 69-71-68-69--277
54. Dudley Hart (14,136) 74-66-68-69--277
54. Tom Pernice, Jr. (14,136) 69-67-70-71--277
54. James Nitties (14,136) 67-68-70-72--277
54. Anthony Kim (14,136) 69-68-68-72--277
59. Bo Van Pelt (13,516) 71-69-69-69--278
59. Greg Owen (13,516) 68-69-69-72--278
59. Rocco Mediate (13,516) 67-70-69-72--278
59. Jason Dufner (13,516) 69-71-65-73--278
59. Geoff Ogilvy (13,516) 70-67-67-74--278
64. Mike Weir (12,958) 69-67-72-71--279
64. Adam Scott (12,958) 68-71-69-71--279
64. Carl Pettersson (12,958) 71-68-69-71--279
64. Tommy Armour III (12,958) 67-72-68-72--279
68. Richard S. Johnson (12,524) 71-69-70-70--280
68. Derek Fathauer (12,524) 68-69-70-73--280
68. Rod Pampling (12,524) 73-66-67-74--280
71. Ryuji Imada (12,152) 69-68-73-71--281
71. Chez Reavie (12,152) 72-68-70-71--281
71. John Rollins (12,152) 70-67-71-73--281
74. John Merrick (11,904) 71-68-71-75--285