Stricker birdies last 2 holes to win Deutsche Bank

NORTON, Mass. (AP) — Given another chance to win a playoff event, Steve Stricker delivered back-to-back birdies to cap off a wild Labor Day finish and win the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday, moving past Tiger Woods to the top of the FedEx Cup standings.

One week after missing a 10-foot par putt to force overtime, Stricker rolled in a 15-foot birdie on the 17th hole, then hit a delicate chip to tap-in range on the par-5 18th for a 4-under 67 one-shot victory over Jason Dufner and Scott Verplank.

The victory was his third of the year, and moved Stricker to a career-high No. 2 in the world ranking.

Better yet, he has a 909-point lead over Woods in the FedEx Cup with two tournaments remaining. Because the points will be reset after next week in Chicago, Stricker is assured of being no worse than the No. 2 seed and will have a chance at the Tour Championship to go after the $10 million prize.

“It’s been a blast, and I want to keep riding it out,” Stricker said as he tried again to fight back tears.

Stricker in tears after a victory is as predictable as Woods wearing a red shirt on Sunday, and the 42-year-old from Wisconsin has been going through plenty of tissue this year.

He won a playoff at Colonial and he won by three shots at the John Deere Classic. This might have been the toughest of them all.

Eight players had at least a share of the lead at one point, and Stricker was the sixth player over the final hour to came to the 18th hole with hopes of winning.

Dufner, who had to go through two stages of Q-school last year, two-putted from 40 feet for birdie at a 65 to become the first player to post at 16-under 268. Verplank birdied his last four holes, and his eagle putt from the fringe grazed the edge of the cup. He wound up with a 67 and thought he might be headed for a playoff.

Stricker split the middle of the 18th fairway with his tee shot and then went just over the green. His chip came out perfectly, stopping 2 feet from the cup, the easiest birdie putt he had all day. He finished at 17-under 267 and won $1.35 million, pushing him over $6 million for the year.