Northern Trust Open: Round 4 Notebook

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Sunday: The third round resumed at 7 a.m. A total of 12 players had to complete their third round. The third round was completed at 7:50 a.m. A second cut was made at 72 players at 216 (+3) and players were re-paired. The final round began at 8:14 a.m.

Related

Leaderboard: Round 4
Live Report: Round 4
Ross: Major for Stricker?

• Steve Stricker, who moved to No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking, won his eighth PGA TOUR event and first title on the West Coast of the United States. Stricker takes over the lead in the FedExCup standings with 758 points, which is 226 more than Bill Haas. Stricker has led the FedExCup standings during the regular season only once before -- for one week following the 2009 British Open.

• Stricker began the round with a six-shot lead over Luke Donald, JB Holmes and Andres Romero. It had diminished to as few as two shots over Luke Donald by the seventh hole, thanks to a bogey by Stricker on No. 4 and birdies by Donald on No. 4 and 5. Stricker got back on track with birdies on No. 8, 9 and 11 to pull four ahead of Dustin Johnson and Donald.

• The six-stroke lead was the largest Stricker has held heading into the final round of a PGA TOUR event. His previous largest lead was five strokes at the 1996 Motorola Western Open, which he also won.

• When Stricker's lead had diminished to two shots, there was talk of him being in danger of joining a group of five players in PGA TOUR history who have lost a tournament after entering the final round with a six-stroke lead:

• Before his final-round 70, Stricker had recorded nine consecutive rounds in the 60s this season -- the final two rounds of the SBS Championship, all four rounds of the Sony Open and first three rounds of the Northern Trust Open.

• Stricker matched the record for consecutive rounds in the 60s at the Northern Trust Open at 8, set by Johnny Miller in 1981-82. He shot 69 in the final round of the 2008 event, 68-66-69-67 in 2009 and began the tournament with rounds of 67-65-66.

• Stricker was the runner-up to Phil Mickelson at last year's Northern Trust Open. Sunday's win makes him the fifth player in the event's 84-year history to win the tournament the year after finishing second or T2.

• The last time on the PGA TOUR that a player finished runner-up and then won the tournament the following year was Ryuji Imada at the 2007-08 AT&T Classic.

• Stricker has held or shared a 54-hole lead nine previous times in his career -- including this week -- and has now gone on to win four of those events. He has never been over par on Sunday when he was the 54-hole leader. Stricker has won all three times when he has been the outright leader heading into the final round.

• Stricker is coming off the best season of his career, having captured three PGA TOUR events (Crowne Plaza Invitational, John Deere Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship); he is one of just nine players since 2000 to win three or more times in a season (Woods, Singh, Els, Love, Perry, Weir, Mickelson, Toms).

• Stricker is one of two players with top-10 finishes in the first two events of the season: T10 at the SBS Championship and 3rd at the Sony Open. This is the first time Stricker has started his season with three consecutive top-10 finishes.

• This is the largest margin of victory on the PGA TOUR since the 2009 TOUR Championships presented by Coca-Cola, where Phil Mickelson won by three shots. The last eight official PGA TOUR events (four of the 2009 Fall Series and four of the 2010 season) have been decided by one shot or a playoff.

• Luke Donald moved into contention with a bogey-free 66 (-5) in Round 3. He followed with another 5-under-par 66 in his final round to finish solo second.

• This is Donald's ninth consecutive start at the Northern Trust Open. He has finished in the top 10 the last three years: T3 in 2008, T6 in 2009 and 2nd in 2010. He has made the cut four previous times and has shot 68 on Sunday three of those times.

• Donald was looking to become only the second Englishman (Nick Faldo, 1997) and fifth European to win the Northern Trust Open. Considering the event's 84-year history, there are relatively few winners from outside the United States (10 international players accounting for 14 wins):

• Donald, a two-time PGA TOUR winner, last won in March 2006 at The Honda Classic. This is his 68th PGA TOUR event since winning.

• First- and second-round leader Dustin Johnson fell back during the third round with a 74 (+4), but rebounded nicely in the final round, recording a 5-under-par 66 and finished three off the lead for a T3.

• Johnson's ace on Friday during the second round (No. 6, 8 iron from 152 yards) was the 34th at the Northern Trust Open since 1979 (when hole-in-one records began). Johnson was trying to join TC Chen (1987) and Gil Morgan (1983) as Northern Trust Open champions who made an ace the year that they won the event. Johnson's ace on Friday was the second hole-in-one of his PGA TOUR career (2008 Crowne Plaza Invitational).

• J.B. Holmes continued his solid play at Riviera Country Club and the Northern Trust Open as the only player in the field with all four rounds in the 60s, 68-69-67-67=271 (-13). The two-time PGA TOUR winner has finished in the top 10 in each of his past three appearances at Riviera with a T7 in 2008, a T6 in 2009 and a T3 in 2010.

• Holmes' two wins on the PGA TOUR came at the FBR Open in 2006 and 2008.

• Alex Prugh, the leading rookie money-winner so far this season and ranked No. 13 in FedExCup points, finished T10 this week. Prugh is the only player to post top-10 finishes in the three California PGA TOUR events this year-- a fifth-place at the Bob Hope Classic; a T5 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a T10 at the Northern Trust Open.

• Paul Goydos jumped into the top 10 with a chip-in for birdie on No. 18, giving him a 65 (-6) in the final round and a 274 (-10) total. Goydos tied the low round of the day (-6) and needed just 22 putts in Round 4. Goydos last finished in the top 10 at the 2009 Barclays. In his first three starts of 2010, he has finished T39 (Sony Open in Hawaii), 74th (Bob Hope Classic) and missed the cut (Farmers Insurance Open). Earlier this week, Goydos was named as an assistant captain for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team by Captain Corey Pavin.

• Ricky Barnes posted rounds of 66-71-69-69 to finish at 9-under par and finished 9th. It was his first top-20 finish since he made a run at the 2009 U.S. Open title, where he was the second- and third-round leader, but shot a 76 in the final round to finish T2.

• Jason Bohn posted five consecutive birdies during the final round en route to a 65 (-6). Bohn, who started Round 4 on the back nine, birdied 15, 16, 17, 18 and 1, matching the longest birdie streak of the season (set by six other players). He ended his round with a bogey on No. 9, but still vaulted up the leaderboard from a T34 after Round 3 to a T10. This is Bohn's first top-10 finish since a T2 at the 2009 Wyndham Championship in August.

• The par-4 10th hole is one of the shortest par 4s on the PGA TOUR. Jack Nicklaus called this "one of the best 10th holes in major championship golf." A short hole but by no means easy, longer hitters can drive this green, but extreme accuracy is required.

• In Round 4 of the Northern Trust Open, two of 47 players attempting to drive the green were able to hit the green with their first shot, compared to three of 40 players in Round 3, one of 22 players in Round 2, and one of 44 during Round 1. Anthony Kim has driven the green twice -- Friday and Saturday.

Sunday scoring average going for the green -- 3.68
Sunday scoring average laying up -- 3.88
Cumulative scoring average going for the green -- 3.78
Cumulative scoring average laying up -- 4.02

• Round 4 bogey-free rounds: Ryuji Imada (68), Kevin Na (66), Marc Leishman (65) and KJ Choi (65)

• Round 3 bogey-free rounds: Alex Prugh (66), Luke Donald (66) and Scott Verplank (65)

• Round 2 bogey-free rounds: None

• Round 1 bogey-free rounds: Ricky Barnes (66) and Dustin Johnson (64)

• Scoring Averages at the par-71 Riviera Country Club: