Hunter Mahan birdied five of his last eight holes to fire a final round of 65 and win The Barclays at Ridgewod Country Club by two strokes from Stuart Appleby, Jason Day and Cameron Tringale.
Hunter Mahan birdied five of his last eight holes to fire a final round of 65 and win The Barclays at Ridgewod Country Club by two strokes from Stuart Appleby, Jason Day and Cameron Tringale.
Mahan picked up his sixth PGA Tour title, secured his place in the season-ending Tour Championship and significantly increased his chances of making Tom Watson’s Ryder Cup team.
“To get a win in an event like this and the timing, it feels unbelievable," Mahan said. "So I'm extremely proud of myself. I felt great the last few weeks. My game was starting to come around. I knew this was around the corner, but to do it -- and to do it today with a 65 -- feels great."
Mahan began the final round a stroke behind Jason Day and Jim Furyk but he took the lead with a birdie at the 13th. He stretched his advantage with further gains at the 16th and 17th holes. He tested his nerves on the 18th when he drove into the trees. After pitching out, he missed the green with his third. But he managed to get up-and-down for a bogey to win by two shots.
Stuart Appleby closed with a 65 to climb the leaderboard and end the week tied for second with fellow Australian Jason Day and Cameron Tringale of the USA.
Jim Furyk failed to convert a 54-hole lead into a win for the eighth time consecutively. He had a chance until the 14th hole where an errant drive cost him a shot. In the end he fired a 70 and finished in eighth place.
The top 100 players on the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings after The Barclays move on to the second playoff event next week – the Deutsch Bank Championship. Seven players outside the top 100 at the start of the week qualified. Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy took the 100th spot but only after Brendon Todd made a tough par putt on the 72nd green. If he'd missed it, Troy Merritt would have taken the 100th place by only 0.5 of a point.
The Barclays Ridgewood Country Club, Paramus, New Jersey Aug 21-24, purse $8,000,000, par 71
1 Hunter Mahan (USA) 66 71 68 65 270 $1,440,000 T2 Stuart Appleby (Aus) 73 66 68 65 272 $597,333 T2 Jason Day (Aus) 72 64 68 68 272 $597,333 T2 Cameron Tringale (USA) 66 68 72 66 272 $597,333 T5 Ernie Els (RSA) 68 68 71 66 273 $292,000 T5 Matt Kuchar (USA) 68 70 68 67 273 $292,000 T5 William McGirt (USA) 68 71 68 66 273 $292,000 8 Jim Furyk (USA) 66 69 69 70 274 $248,000 T9 Rickie Fowler (USA) 68 73 67 67 275 $208,000 T9 Morgan Hoffman (USA) 70 70 66 69 275 $208,000 T9 Kevin Na (USA) 70 66 70 69 275 $208,000 T9 Patrick Reed (USA) 71 66 73 65 275 $208,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage
