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The 19^th Hole

August 26, 2007

Coming All the Way Back

Steve Stricker was nearly out of the game just two short seasons ago.  He had to employ Past Champion status to achieve a partial exemption on Tour.  That meant that Stricker would basically need sponsor exemptions or lots of Top 10 finishes to be able to having many playing opportunities on the Tour.  Stricker took full advantage of his starts and carded seven top 10s last season.  He finished in a tie for second in the then Booz Allen Classic.  At Winged Foot, he held the lead for a time and then finished in a tie for sixth.  On the season, he finished 34^th on the money list and earned a career high in money for a single season. 

Despite those achievements and winning Comeback Player of the Year last season, though, Stricker was still missing a new trophy for his mantle.  Up until Sunday, it had been six years since his last Tour victory – the WGC Accenture Match Play.  He had come close multiple times in the 2007 campaign.  He finished as the bridesmaid twice already in Charlotte for Woods’ win at the Wachovia Championship and in the District for Woods’ host event, the AT&T National.  Stricker had an opportunity to win the Open Championship at Carnoustie, but never got anything going on Sunday and faded into a top ten finish.

On Sunday, though, at the Barclays at Westchester, Stricker put all of his demons to rest once and for all.  In birdying four of the final five holes, the Wisconsin native was able to outlast KJ Choi and win for the first time since 2001.  The years of torment in losing his game, swing, and confidence could be put aside.  Stricker found a way to get past all of what had been holding him back to pick up the biggest paycheck of his career and perhaps the biggest milestone as well.

The win also lent some semblance of intrigue to the FedEx Cup, which has been taking a beating from myself and almost every other golf journalist on the planet.  All of a sudden, a really great story is in the lead of the FedEx Cup.  Not that the Tour PR department could have gone wrong with KJ Choi as a champion of the first Playoff event, but I think that Stricker has quietly assembled himself quite a fan base.  He is a perfect demonstration that there is such a thing as a comeback in golf, even in the Tiger Woods era. 

Yes, Woods was nowhere near Harrison, New York, this weekend, but that should not diminish the meaning of what Stricker achieved on Sunday.  He won a compelling golf tournament with an enormous first place prize.  To a guy that has never won more than $2 million in a season, the pressure of being able to win nearly that amount alone on Sunday had to have been incredibly difficult with which to contend.  That should have provided more than enough drama for the galleries in person and watching on television.

That drama also lent a wrinkle to the FedEx Cup saga.  At no point on Sunday was I particularly interested in what impact the final results would have on the FedEx Cup.  I was completely drawn in with the saga of Stricker and Choi.  It was a great battle between two guys who could not be more deserving of the spotlight.  Regardless of whatever their projected status in the FedEx Cup was (the winner would be first, the loser in second), their tear down the back stretch of Westchester was one for the ages.

The problem now is that Tiger Woods will be back next week for the Deutsche Bank Championship just outside of Boston.  Tiger is now just under 5,000 points behind Stricker’s lead in the FedEx Cup.  Since no one seems to understand how the rankings work and considering the lack of serious movement among many guys who placed in the top twenty, I am going to assume that Woods is going to have to win a FEC event to pick up the trophy and the deferred $10 million. 

The PGA Tour will get a few days’ reprieve from the FedEx Cup criticism, but it will resume in earnest on Wednesday in Boston.  After all, the nightmare scenario plaguing Commissioner Tim Finchem still remains a very real possibility.  If someone other than Tiger Woods wins the FedEx Cup – regardless of how feel good of a story – then the series is invalidated because it did not crown the best player as champion.  If Woods still manages to win the Cup, he can single-handedly bury the meaning of the series as a whole because Woods will only have to participate in part to prove that he is miles ahead of the other Tour members.  Either way, things will probably not turn out too well for the Tour.

But, at least for Steve Stricker, everything turned out just right and I don’t think anyone can be critical of that.

Ryan Ballengee is host of The 19th Hole Golf Show, found at The Golf Newsnet.com.  Having graduated from the University of Maryland in 2004 and 2006, Ballengee brings the perspective of the younger golf fan to the microphone and his columns.  Over the nearly five years he has been broadcasting and writing, Ballengee has developed a reputation for a unique interviewing style that asks both the difficult and fun questions. You can also get The 19th Hole on the go through podcasting by clicking here The Golf Newsnet Contact Ryan via e-mail at the19thholeshow@hotmail.com.