By Helen Ross
PGATOUR.COM Managing Editor

MELBOURNE, Australia -- The lengthy trip Down Under completed an even longer road back for Steve Stricker, who won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship on Sunday.

The man who admitted that he'd dropped off the "golfing map" finally found his way home on the world stage when he outlasted Sweden's Pierre Fulke, 2 and 1, in the 36-hole championship of the $5 million event.

The victory was Stricker's third on the PGA TOUR and the first since he won twice in 1996. More important than the $1 million he won, though, was the confidence regained by a man who would like to forget three of the past four years.

"It's been four years and a lot of lows, really," said the unassuming Stricker, who fought back tears after the victory. "I'm an emotional guy, and I  realize how much this means to me."

Fulke won $500,000 and secured a berth on the European Tour's Ryder Cup team for his efforts this week. Toru Taniguchi walked away with $400,000 -- the largest paycheck of his career -- for beating the No. 2 player in the world, Ernie Els, in the consolation match.

Stricker was a rising star when he finished fourth on the PGA TOUR money list in 1996. But he plummeted to 130th a year later when his driver deserted him. He has placed higher than 64th only once in the interim.

Stricker's spirits were so low that he thought about quitting the game -- more than once. But now he has higher goals.

"Winning here means a lot," said Stricker, who flew halfway around the world to find his game. "But deep down inside I feel like I need to back it up, and that's what I'm going to work to do this year."

If his performance at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship is any indication, Stricker has the game to make that happen.

"I dug down deep a couple of times and executed some shots that I really needed to, and I kept that killer instinct in pretty much every match," said Stricker, who had his old driver and putter, circa 1996, to rely upon this week. "That's what really makes a player feel good -- when he can step up.

"I didn't hit it good all the time, (but) I was able to bounce back after some of the times where I did hit it poorly and be aggressive on the next tee again. That's probably what won it for me -- my putting and short game and just my ability to hang in on each hole and not give up."

One of those holes was the 16th in the afternoon, when Stricker was 1 up with three remaining. He found the fairway bunker off the tee and the left greenside bunker with his second shot. Fulke, meanwhile, had placed his approach on the green -- 40 feet from the flag.

The pin was cut perilously just paces from another bunker, but Stricker -- who downed Ryder Cup participants Padraig Harrington and Justin Leonard on the way to the title -- managed to coax his ball within 6 feet. Fulke putted to within inches, which Stricker conceded just before he made his clutch putt for par.

"His third shot playing out of the greenside bunker was a great shot," Fulke said. "I was left with a tough putt so there was nothing I could do. It's probably where he won the match, I think."

Fulke struggled early, finding seven bunkers in the first 18 holes. "Is that all?" he joked. He never led and gave Stricker an edge he would not relinquish with bogeys on Nos. 15, 16 and 17 before the lunch break.

"I couldn't buy a putt -- not even with $1 million," said Fulke, who had made a bundle of them in his previous five matches.

While Stricker felt he maintained a killer instinct throughout the match, the 29-year-old Swede admitted that his approach was just the opposite -- at least early in the match.

"I was maybe a bit too relaxed," Fulke said. "I had trouble concentrating because I knew it was going to be over 36 holes and it felt like the holes in the beginning didn't matter because there were so many holes to go -- which was stupid, I guess, but that's the way I felt."

Fulke predicted that he'd feel better Sunday evening, though.

"When I get back to the hotel tonight, I will have a shower and relax a little bit," said Fulke, who plans to make his PGA TOUR debut at THE PLAYERS Championship in March. "In the end -- before I go to sleep -- I think I'll be pretty pleased."

Editor's note:PGATOUR.COM's Helen Ross filed all week from Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.