Golf Betting
Steve Stricker just keeps on ticking.
The 44-year-old pro cruised to a three-shot victory over Scotland’s Martin Laird at the PGA Tour’s season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions, proving he’s still a force to be reckoned with in 2012. Stricker carried a five-stroke lead into the final round, nearly stumbled into a tie, then regained his composure to win going away.
For three rounds, Stricker owned the Plantation Course at Kapalua, Hawaii. He backed an opening 68 with a 10-under par 63 on the par-73 layout, grabbing a five-shot lead which he maintained with a third-round 69.
Things got interesting during Monday’s finale. While Stricker played the first six holes in 1-over, Laird reeled off consecutive birdies on 3, 4 and 5 to close the gap to one. Stricker steadied himself with a 25-foot birdie putt on the eighth followed by a tap-in birdie on the ninth, and played flawlessly coming home. He finished 23-under-par for the week and earned $1,120,000.
“It was tough,” Stricker said of his early struggles. “I never let up today. It’s always tough trying to win, and it’s even more tough when you have a lead like I did. I’m very proud of what I did today.”
Laird, who called Stricker “probably the most underrated player in the world,” finished on -20, a stroke ahead of Webb Simpson and Jonathan Byrd. The tournament, to which all the previous year’s PGA Tour winners are invited, was missing such stars as Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson.
The Sony Open in Hawaii is this week’s Tour stop.
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