Even with a big lead, Steve Stricker knew he could be in for a rough final round at the John Deere Classic.
And that’s exactly what he got.
Stricker led by seven strokes with 17 holes to play. With five holes to go, the lead was down to just two. But he maintained that margin the rest of the way yesterday and won the tournament in Silvis, Ill., for the second straight year, closing with a 1-under-par 70 that was just enough to beat Paul Goydos.
Stricker had a six-shot lead in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in February and had to scramble to win by two. Yesterday, he found himself doing the same thing.
He played it safe and his putting wasn’t sharp. The shot-making that had allowed him to record the lowest 54-hole total in PGA Tour history wasn’t there. But he came through with a critical birdie after driving into the trees on No. 17 and finished at 258 — 26 under and a record for the tournament.
“You don’t want to give shots away and then you end up playing a little safer than you normally do and it leads to tougher birdie putts,’’ Stricker said. “Then they creep in closer because they were playing some good golf.’’
Goydos, who dazzled the golf world with his 59 in the opening round, shot a solid 66 but still fell short of dethroning Stricker, who won for the ninth time in his career.
Jeff Maggert shot a 70 to finish six strokes back.
Goydos, who had been trying for his first win since 2007, qualified for the British Open with his second-place finish. Deere officials arranged for two charter jets to fly the players directly to Scotland last night.
European — Edoardo Molinari claimed his first tour victory at the Scottish Open at Luss, shooting a 3-over 74 to beat Darren Clarke by three shots.
Scoring was very high after a long spell of rain at Loch Lomond, where Molinari finished at 12-under 272.
Clarke had begun the day a shot behind Molinari but had a 76. Raphael Jacquelin shot 68 to place third at 8 under.
Molinari’s younger brother Francesco (72), Stephen Gallacher (68), and Peter Hedblom (72) trailed Jacquelin by a stroke. John Daly had a 77 and finished 14 shots off the pace.
Clarke’s consolation was that in finishing second he claimed a late entry into the British Open.
Nationwide — Peter Tomasulo shot a 10-under 61 to come from eight shots back and win the Wayne Gretzky Classic in Clarksburg, Ontario, by one stroke over rookie Keegan Bradley of Hopkinton.
Bradley, who birdied the final hole for a 65, jumped to 17th on the Nationwide money list, earning $86,411 to bring his season total to $108,372.
