Steve Stricker wins Northern Trust Open

Steve Stricker moved to second on the Official World Golf Ranking after securing a two-shot victory over England’s Luke Donald in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club.

Steve Stricker
Fergus Bisset
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Steve Stricker moved second on the Official World Golf Ranking after securing a two-shot victory over England's Luke Donald in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club.

Stricker took a six-shot lead into the final round but it was steadily eroded by the chasing pack of Luke Donald, J.B. Holmes and Dustin Johnson. Stricker, who'd played aggressive golf over the first three rounds was on the defensive.

"You're playing a different game than what you normally play. You played scared - at least I did there for a while," he said.

The American steadied the ship with back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th and another on the 11th. When he holed an excellent putt for par on the 15th, the tournament was effectively his. It was Stricker's fourth win in his last 15 starts and it saw him climb to second in the World for the second time in his career.

When asked about the prospects of reaching the number one spot, he chose his words carefully.

"We all know who the best player in the world is, and I'll just continue to do what I do, and that's practice hard and work at it and try to improve," he said.

England's Luke Donald fired an excellent closing round of 66 to end the week alone in second place. The finish lifted him to 23rd on the Official World Golf Ranking. Donald could have pushed Stricker even harder had he not missed makeable birdie putts on the 6th and 7th.

"If I got really hot with the putter, I could have maybe caught Steve," said Donald. "He played nicely coming down the stretch, and I think he was a deserved winner. But at least I gave him a little run for his money."

Northern Trust Open Riviera Country Club, California Feb 4-7, purse $6,400,000, par 71

1    Steve Stricker (USA)    67    65    66    70    268    $1,152,000 2    Luke Donald (Eng)    68    70    66    66    270    $691,200 T3    J.B. Holmes (USA)    68    69    67    67    271    $371,200 T3    Dustin Johnson (USA)    64    67    74    66    271    $371,200 T5    Paul Goydos (USA)    69    72    68    65    274    $224,800 T5    Steve Marino (USA)    70    67    69    68    274    $224,800 T5    George McNeill (USA)    70    69    66    69    274    $224,800 T5    Andres Romero (Arg)    65    69    70    70    274    $224,800 9    Ricky Barnes (USA)    66    71    69    69    275    $185,600

Note: Player scores in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

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