Stricker collects first win of season

Kapalua, Hawaii — Steve Stricker always believed experience would go a long way toward winning the PGA Tour season opener at Kapalua.

This wasn't the kind he was thinking about.

No other player is more accustomed to building a big lead, blowing a big lead, and then settling down to win. That's just what Stricker did Monday on Maui, when he won the Tournament of Champions with a final round that only looked easy on paper.

"I've been there before. It's not a great feeling, either," Stricker said after closing with a 4-under 69 for a three-shot victory over Martin Laird. "It's just the nature of our game. I realize that, and I've gone through it before. It always seems close, and you always have to perform to get it done."

Ultimately, that's just what he did.

It took only six holes for him to see his five-shot lead dwindle to one. After another mental mistake led to bogey, Stricker stood behind the sixth green staring at the ground, shaking his head, disgusted with himself. It was during that long walk down the seventh fairway, the Pacific Ocean on the horizon, when Stricker reminded himself that at least he was still in the lead.

And that's where he stayed.

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Stricker keeps big lead at Kapalua as competitors misfire down stretch

KAPALUA, Hawaii — Steve Stricker reached his boiling point Sunday in the Tournament of Champions when he walked off the 12th tee, his lead down to two shots and his ball in the bunker after he missed a fairway almost as wide as Wisconsin.

As he reached a clump of trees that shielded him from the fans, he thumped his 3-wood on the soft grass.

For the mild Midwesterner, this constitutes a meltdown.

"I was frustrated at that point," Stricker said.

But he never lost his patience. More importantly, he never lost his lead. Stricker closed with four straight birdies, including a chip-in from short of the 16th green, for a 4-under 69 that restored the five-shot lead he started with in the third round at Kapalua.

It only looked as though nothing had changed.

Defending champion Jonathan Byrd had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole for a share of the lead. He missed it and had to settle for two more pars and a 67.

Webb Simpson had long birdie putts on the 13th and 14th holes to catch Stricker. He missed both of those and was left in the wake of Stricker's great finish.

"That was key to finish that way," Stricker said. "Sets me up for some momentum going into tomorrow. I just kept telling myself that I had the lead still and just to be patient. Things were not really going the way I had hoped, but I just kept telling myself to hang in there."

Stricker was at 19-under 200, poised to start the new season off with a trophy in his hands and a lei around his neck.

He will play in the final group with Byrd, who overcame early back-to-back bogeys for a 67.

Martin Laird had a 67 and also was five shots behind at 14-under 205, along with Simpson, who had to settle for a 69.

"I don't know what it will take, but I'm guessing a minimum of 8 under probably," Laird said of his chances Monday. "But this is a golf course that you can do it."

Stricker showed that Saturday when he had a 10-under 63. As uncomfortable as he felt Sunday, such a score looked impossible.

"I wasn't making any birdies, and it seemed like everybody else was," Stricker said. "I knew it was going to be tough. When you're leading a golf tournament, it's just hard to keep that momentum. When you're not making birdies, you feel like you're letting things slip away. I felt everyone was coming after me, and I was coming back to the pack."

But he owns the closing stretch on the Plantation Course.

With his four straight birdies at the end, Stricker is now 13-under par on the last five holes. This time, he started his birdie run on the par-5 15th with a 3-wood that he had to hit perfectly to get onto the green, and he did just that for a two-putt birdie.

He followed with a chip-in short of the 16th green — "I stole one there," Stricker said — then crushed a tee shot and hit 9-iron into about 4 feet on the 17th. With a 406-yard drive on the 18th — down the hill, down the grain, the wind at his back — he came up just short of the green for an easy birdie.

It's the rest of the day that didn't feel so easy.

"I didn't feel comfortable," Stricker said. "I didn't hit it bad, but I didn't feel as aggressive at times. You're in a position where you don't want to screw up, but yet you're on a course that birdies can be made and guys can come from a ways back."

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Stricker out to sizable lead after 63

Kapalua, Hawaii — Steve Stricker, considered the best putter on the PGA Tour, felt as though he couldn't miss Saturday at Kapalua. That meant big trouble for the rest of the field at the Tournament of Champions.

Stricker made even some of the longer putts look like tap-ins on his way to a 10-under 63, giving him a five-shot lead over Webb Simpson halfway through the PGA Tour's season opener.

Stricker played the final five holes in 5 under, which included a 3-wood up the hill and into a blazing sun that settled about 12 feet away for eagle. That allowed Stricker to get some separation from Simpson, and from the amazing eagle-eagle finish by Kevin Na.

Stricker was at 15-under 131, two shots off the 36-hole record that Ernie Els set in 2003.

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Stricker clings to lead at Memorial

Hanging on: Steve Stricker hits from the sand to the first green during the third round of the Memorial at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio on Saturday. AP

DUBLIN, Ohio — Steve Stricker went from doing everything right to having just about everything go wrong as his lead was cut in half over the final five holes at the Memorial on Saturday.

The good news for Stricker is that he had a six-shot lead at one point, and his 3-under 69 at Muirfield Village still kept him three shots clear of Jonathan Byrd going into the final round. He was at 12-under 204 as he goes for his 10th career victory.

Stricker holed out for eagle from 113 yards on the second hole, made another eagle with a 3-iron into 6 feet on the par-5 fifth and looked as though he might run away from the field when he rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt on the par-3 eighth.

But he missed three putts inside 7 feet — one of them for par — over the final five holes, and his tee shot on the 18th landed in the middle of a sand-filled divot, sending his approach beyond the green in thick rough. Stricker chipped out to 3 feet to escape with par and leave himself some decent vibes going into Sunday.

"All of a sudden, things seemed pretty hard, when at the start of the day, things were really going my way," he said. "But I understand that, and I understand that's the nature of this game. So you add them up at the end, and it was a 69. And it was a good score."

Byrd made birdie on the 18th hole for a 69 that will put him in the final group on Sunday with a chance to win for the second time this year. Thanks to the late fade by Stricker, several others have a chance that at one time didn't look possible.

"I'm doing everything pretty well," Byrd said.

Matt Kuchar, who made six birdies in his opening nine holes, had a 68 despite two bogeys in his last four holes. He was four shots behind, along with Brandt Jobe, who shot a 69.

Rory McIlroy couldn't get the clean round he wanted. Making a rare U.S. PGA Tour appearance, McIlroy chopped up the par-3 fourth hole for a double bogey, hit into the water on the par-5 11th for a bogey and was falling back until he rallied with an eagle putt on the 15th. He wound up with a 71 and was five shots behind, along with Mark Wilson (66) and former U.S. PGA champion Shaun Micheel (67).

"Even though I didn't play my best stuff today, I'm still in a decent position going into tomorrow," McIlroy said. "And that's all you can ask for."

Luke Donald, in his debut as the No. 1 player in the world, was trying to make a charge on the back nine until he made two careless bogeys and had to settled for a 73. Donald was at 4-under 212, eight shots out of the lead. About the only thing Donald can likely achieve on Sunday is to go for his 10th straight finish in the top 10. Donald was tied for 17th.

An amazing start gave Stricker strokes to burn toward the end of his round.

After an 8-footer to save par from a bunker on the opening hole, Stricker had 113 yards on No. 2. He reached into his pocket for a tee to clean out a chunk of dirt in his 53-degree wedge, set up over the ball and hit a perfect shot that spun into the cup for an eagle. Three holes later, he hit 3-iron over the water with just enough draw to catch the ridge and settled 6 feet away for another eagle.

Going back to the second round, it was his third eagle in seven holes. And he became only the 13th player on the U.S. PGA Tour since 1983 to make an eagle on a par 3, par 4 and par 5 in the same tournament.

He had it going so well that his lone bogey on the front nine came on a shot that was about a yard away from being an easy birdie, his wedge just hopping into a buried lie beyond the green instead of rolling down the ridge. But he answered with an 8-foot birdie on the seventh, and a 25-foot birdie on the eighth to go out in 31.

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