Strange Gets Off the Rocks to Skin Field : Golf: He defends title, wins $220,000 with the help of a “lucky” shot.

There was no way that Curtis Strange was going to take a chance and get injured trying to hit a golf ball off some slippery rocks.

Not on November 25th. Not when his game is coming back.

“That’s why I took off my shoes and socks so my spikes wouldn’t slip,” Strange said. “Besides, I thought it (the hole) was over.”

The hole was the par-four, 414-yard 10th hole on the TPC Stadium Course at PGA West, the first of a sudden-death playoff in the Skins Game. After hitting his drive into the rocks, Strange, barefoot, straddled the boulders and hit a wedge 125 yards over the water. The ball hit the green, kicked off the mound to the right and rolled to six feet from the pin. He made the putt for birdie to tie the hole with Nick Faldo and secure his second consecutive Skins title.

“I could give you a 15-minute dissertation on why I hit it the way I did, but the truth is I got lucky,” Strange said.

Strange’s luck and skill held up through four sudden-death playoff holes, when he tapped in a two-foot putt to come away with $220,000 and another Skins victory.

“It got a little more intense out there than I thought it would be, but I think we all had a good time,” said Strange, who won two skins worth $155,000 Sunday. He made eight birdies in 22 holes.

Faldo, who was blanked Sunday after winning two skins worth $70,000 on Saturday, didn’t seem to have that good of time until the playoff holes, where he made his only two birdies of the day. Fighting flu, he spent most of the day in trouble.

“Fancy lies for the rich and famous,” he quipped halfway through the round, as he straddled a sidehill lie.

Still, he went the distance in the playoff but came away empty when he hooked his approach shot into the water on the fourth hole and took a drop.

“When it gets down to two of you, it’s either one or the other,” Faldo said. “It was a long playoff for this event but I didn’t think it was intense.”

Said Strange: “That’s because you didn’t finish 53rd on the money list.”

Greg Norman was in the hunt until the first playoff hole, when he and Jack Nicklaus missed par and were eliminated. Norman won two skins and $60,000 Sunday for a total of three skins and $90,000 for the tournament.

Nicklaus, blanked Saturday, played better on Sunday, but only well enough to win one hole worth $70,000.

“I played better today than yesterday, but that’s not saying much,” Nicklaus said.

Nicklaus won his skin on No. 14, when he two-putted for birdie. His next chance came on No. 17, when he had the only chance for birdie. Staring over a five-foot putt, he was about ready to hit, then stopped.

“There was an ant on top of the ball, then he climbed underneath,” Nicklaus said. “I thought he was gone, but then I would get ready to hit and he would be back again.”

Didn’t he just want to kill it?

“He’s on the endangered species list in California,” Nicklaus said. “If they knew he was out there, they wouldn’t have built this golf course.”

Then he missed the putt.

“I kept thinking that this was the same putt that Arnold (Palmer) missed here,” Nicklaus said. “I knew the ball would break a quick right. So I kept thinking, ‘Don’t knock it through the line.’ And that’s what I did. You can’t putt thinking what you’re not supposed to do.”

That made the final hole worth $70,000, leaving only Norman and Strange in contention for the championship.

With a tie on No. 18, the foursome began the playoff. Strange drove into the rocks, but made his recovery for a birdie to tie Faldo. Nicklaus and Norman were eliminated.

Faldo and Strange headed for No. 18. Each reached the green with a drive and a six-iron. Faldo made his putt from eight feet, and Strange matched him from four feet.

“What do you think Curtis, should we split it up?” Faldo asked. Instead, they both parred No. 10 then went back to No. 18.

Faldo hooked his second shot into the water and took a drop. He hit his fourth shot about 10 feet from the pin. Strange sat on the green about 90 feet away from the pin, facing the same putt he had in regulation. He hit to two feet from the pin. Faldo sank his putt for bogey. But Strange made his for par and $70,000.

“I think I played well,” Strange said. “My goal was to be in on every hole. I made some key putts, two in the playoff, and some along the way. I look forward to returning next year.”