John Deere Classic concludes with Steve Stricker winning for the third straight year
With the return of John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run last weekend, and keeping in view of Steve Stricker’s current glorious form, it was perhaps one of the strongest bets that the lanky American will win the event for the third consecutive time.
Already having won the Memorial Tournament earlier in June, Stricker became the highest ranking American golfer, over taking Phil Mickelson for the number five spot in Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR).
Stricker cleared the field by just one shot, when he was able to pull in a jaw-dropping birdie putt on the 18th to avert a Playoff and be the outright winner of the event. He was constantly challenged by the runner-up Kyle Stanley, who played
brilliant golf to card a final round of five-under, 65.
Stricker dropped several shots in his final round and was once two shots behind Stanley owing to the bogeys at 15 and 16. Stanley, who managed to card birdies in his back nine, threw away his lead on the 18th hole, when his iron shot went wayward
in the trees. Stricker moved in quickly to birdie putt the final hole to win the title for the third time. He became the first person to pull the feat after World War ll.
"I kept telling myself that it's not a big deal and it really wasn't -- until today," Stricker said. "That back nine trying to win, it's just really hard. I don't know any other way to say it. It's extremely hard to put it away. When you watch guys like
Tiger put away all those tournaments, anybody who's put it away down the stretch, it's a difficult thing to do."
Stricker has now barged his way into the coveted group of only few players who have won the event for three straight years. Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Hogan and Johnny Miller have all won an event for three consecutive years
and Woods has done it for a staggering six times.
Runner-up Stanley, although disappointed with his bogey on the final hole, was happy to at least find a place in the Open Championship as a consolation. Stanley managed to post his best finish for the season after his joint 12th in the Arnold
Palmer Invitational in March this year. He made 15 cuts in his 20 appearances for the current season.
"I'm very excited to go over there," said Stanley, "But I'm still trying to calm down from that round."
Stricker, who has won eight of his professional titles on the PGA Tour after turning 40, seems to grow out of his age into a better player. The 44-year-old American made all the 19 cuts in 2010 and has won 19 professional titles in his stellar career. He
will now be heading to the Royal St. George's for the Open Championship to possibly win his first major title at Sandwich.
The event turned out to be a disappointment for the defending Open champion Louis Oosthuizen, who failed to make the cut after his sloppy score in the second round.
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