Stricker is emotional after rally for win

Steve Stricker had persevered through 6 1/2 years, 146 tournaments and four blown chances since his last victory.

But Sunday he turned a one-shot deficit into a two-stroke victory at The Barclays by rallying with four birdies on the last five holes at Westchester Country Club in Harrison, N.Y.

Stricker finished his final-round 69 with an eight-foot birdie putt that gave him a 16-under-par 268 total and moved him atop the inaugural PGA Tour Playoffs standings with 104,950 points, 2,050 points ahead of K.J. Choi, who closed with a 70 in The Barclays for second place at 270.

Stricker, whose last victory had been at the 2001 Match Play Championship in Australia and whose last title on U.S. soil had been 11 years ago at the Western Open, could barely speak before the TV cameras after winning.

“It was hard, but it was fun,” Stricker said as tears streamed down the side of his face. “I never knew if I was going to win again.”

Lorena Ochoa is ready to return home to Guadalajara, Mexico, for a month after winning her third consecutive LPGA title with a five-stroke victory in the Safeway Classic at Portland, Ore. Ochoa shot a 71 in the final round for a 12-under 204 at Columbia Edgewater Country Club.

Denis Watson eagled the second hole of a record seven-man playoff to win the Champions Tour’s Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie, Wash. The playoff field was whittled to three who birdied the first playoff hole on the par-five 18th. Watson, R.W. Eaks and Craig Stadler then went back to the 18th, where Watson sunk an 18-foot eagle putt. The previous playoff-field record was five, which happened twice.

Colt Knost, who also took the U.S. Public Links title, won the 107th U.S. Amateur Championship at the Olympic Club in Daly City, Calif., holding off Michael Thompson, 2 and 1.