Thirty-five-year-old Heath Slocum rolled in a 21-foot par putt on the 72nd hole of The Barclays at Liberty National Golf Club to avoid a playoff with a list of more accomplished players, which included Tiger Woods, and hold on for his third career PGA Tour victory. The win catapulted Slocum from No. 124 to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings, giving him a legitimate shot to capture the Cup and the $10 million check that goes with it.
Just minutes before Slocum sank the improbable putt, Woods missed a six-foot birdie attempt that would've put a signifcant amount of pressure on the eventual winner, and perhaps produced a different outcome.
"If I would have hit a poor putt, I would have been pissed, but I didn't," said Woods. That's no big deal. If you misread a putt, that happens.
"We read it either right center with a little pace, or inside right. We misread it by almost a cup. That's frustrating when you misread a putt that bad. Stricker did the same thing. His putt broke more than he thought, as well. Kind of the nature of these greens; a little bit tricky to read."
In the end a virtual unknown toppled the world's No. 1 player down the stretch for the second consecutive tournament. Woods lost a final round lead to Y.E. Yang two weeks ago at the PGA Championship in Minnesota. Slocum said the circumstances of the victory coupled with the caliber of competition made it special.
"Obviously you can only beat who's in the field that you're in," said Slocum, whose other wins include the Chrysler Classic of Tucson and the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. "So my two wins were huge for me. My first being in Tucson, because it was my first win. My second in Jackson, Mississippi, where I'd kind of grown up, my dad was caddying for me. Those two were pretty special experiences.
"Now you take this, a playoff event, this caliber of field, all the people like you said that finished one shot behind, it's incredible," he continued. "Yeah, I mean, I'm going to use this experience hopefully for the rest of my life, knowing that I can come down the stretch and play, if you want, with the big boys. Obviously it's going to take a really hot putter. I did it this week. That's what matters."
Both Slocum and Sunday playing partner Steve Stricker, who each began the tournament's final hole at 9-under-par, found trouble off the tee on No. 18, driving their initial shots into fairway bunkers. Each player attempted to go at the green with his bunker shot, and each watched their ball richocet off the lip and fall well short.
After Slocum and Stricker landed their approach shots on the putting surface which sits just 1,000 yards from the Statue of Liberty, Slocum putted first and found the center of the cup. Stricker failed to match from well inside his opponent.
"Hats off to Heath," said Stricker. "He made a great putt on that last hole. Came down to a couple of putts to decide it all."
In addition to Woods and Stricker, Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington finished the tournament at 8-under-par, one stroke off the lead.
The FedEx Cup Playoffs continue next week with the Deutsche Bank Championship, which will be played at TPC Boston.
Updated FedEx Cup Standings
1. Tiger Woods 4,381
2. Steve Stricker 3,105
3. Heath Slocum 2,885
4. Zach Johnson 2,229
5. Kenny Perry 2,075
6. Y.E. Yang 1,869
7. Nick Watney 1,863
8. Brian Gay 1,844
9. Lucas Glover 1,742
10. Phil Mickelson 1,712