Stricker hangs on to win at Riviera
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02/07/2010 - Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After entering the final round with a six-stroke lead, Steve Stricker managed a one-under 70 Sunday to win the Northern Trust Open by two strokes.
Stricker, who had led by seven late in the third round, which was completed earlier Sunday, completed his eighth PGA Tour title at 16-under-par 268.
With the victory, Stricker moved past Phil Mickelson to become the No. 2 ranked player in the world rankings.
"It feels great. I remember where I was and where I am now, you know, it doesn't get any better," said Stricker, who collected $1,152,000 for the victory. "That was hard today. I aged a lot out there today. It was a grind from the get go."
Luke Donald twice got within two of Stricker's lead, but could not get any closer. The Englishman closed with a five-under 66 at Riviera Country Club to take second at minus-14.
J.B. Holmes (67) and first-round leader Dustin Johnson (66) shared third place at 13-under-par 271.
Mickelson entered as the two-time defending champion, but never threaten on the weekend. He closed with a two-over 73 to share 45th at two-under-par 282.
Twelve players finished their third round earlier Sunday. Friday's second round was pushed into Saturday by rain causing the delay in the middle rounds.
Stricker parred the first three holes before missing the green on the par- three fourth. That led to a bogey dropping Stricker to 14-under. He led by three, but Donald was making a charge.
Donald got off to a fast start with birdies on one and three. He poured in a six-foot birdie try on the fifth to get within two at 12-under.
However, Stricker made a run in the middle of the round that gave him a four- stroke cushion. At the eighth, Stricker rolled in a birdie effort from five feet and made it two in a row with a nine-footer on the ninth.
Stricker moved to 17-under with a birdie putt from just inside 13 feet on the par-five 11th. Donald also birdied the 11th and was four back.
Both Stricker and Donald faltered to bogeys on the par-four 12th. Donald got back within three with a four-foot birdie putt on the 13th. The Englishman narrowed the gap to two with a short birdie putt on 17.
Stricker scrambled down the stretch as he missed two of five greens between 13 and 17, but got up and down for par both times. The other three holes he two- putted for par to maintain his lead.
At the last, Donald had a birdie effort from 31 feet, but came up short. Stricker had three putts for the win, but took just two as he two-putted for par for the third straight hole to seal the victory.
"I didn't make birdie on No. 1 and made bogey on No. 4 and kind of let some other players into the tournament," Stricker said. "I knew it was going to be tough today. I am not too familiar with having a six-shot lead too many times, so I knew it was going to be hard. I just tried to grind it out.
"I didn't hit it the greatest, but at times my short game saved me and my putting saved me a few times too."
Donald was denied his first win since the 2006 Honda Classic.
"I tried to keep making good swings and give myself birdie chances. Obviously, I missed a couple of chances on six and seven, but I can't really complain," Donald said. "I hit a lot of quality shots and made Steve think about it a little. There is no one more annoyed. I haven't been in the winner's circle coming up on four years now. I feel like I am good enough to be there."
Paul Goydos (65), Steve Marino (68), George McNeill (69) and Andres Romero (70) shared fifth place at 10-under-par 274. Ricky Barnes was one stroke back at minus-nine after closing with back-to-back 69s.
NOTES: Goydos led a list of five players, that also included Jason Bohn, Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson and K.J. Choi, to shoot 65 in the final round...Johnson will defend his title next week at the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.
New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).
The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.
Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.
Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.
Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.
The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.
Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.
The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.
Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.
However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).
The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.
Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.
In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.
Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.
Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.
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