Slocum holds on by 1 shot
One week after Heath Slocum wondered if he would even make it to the PGA Tour Playoffs, he finished off a compelling afternoon at Liberty National by making a 20-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 1-shot victory over Tiger Woods and a cast of stars Sunday at The Barclays in Jersey City, N.J.
"It was an incredible day, incredible experience," Slocum said. "I was just kind of lucky to come out on top. A lot of good players. At the end of the day, that putt on the last was magical. I'll remember that for the rest of my life."
Woods was 1 shot behind when he fired a 6-iron from 189 yards into 7 feet on the final hole, adding to his collection of clutch shots. Typical of his week, however, Woods missed the putt and shot 67, then had to wait to see if there would be a playoff.
Slocum and Steve Stricker, tied for the lead, both hit into fairway bunkers and couldn't reach the green. Slocum raised both arms in the air when his par putt broke gently back to the left and disappeared into the cup.
Stricker had a 10-foot par putt to force a playoff and cringed when it caught the left lip. He closed with a 69.
Ernie Els (66) and Padraig Harrington (67) also finished 1 shot behind Slocum.
Boeing Classic: At Snoqualmie, Wash., Second-round co-leader Loren Roberts birdied the final two holes to steal the Boeing Classic title and keep Mark O'Meara winless on the Champions Tour.
O'Meara led by a shot until an untimely bogey on the short, par-4 16th when his second shot found a bunker short of the green. O'Meara rebounded with a birdie on the 17th but could only manage a par on the par-5 18th when his tee shot found a fairway bunker.
Roberts took advantage. He nearly matched O'Meara's sterling tee shot at 17 and dribbled in a 5-foot birdie putt. Then he birdied the uphill final hole with a short pitch shot to 3 feet and dropped the putt for his third victory this season.
Safeway Classic: Rookie M.J. Hur hit a 6-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole of the Safeway Classic at North Plains, Ore., to beat Suzann Pettersen for her first LPGA Tour victory.
Hur pumped her fist and started laughing after sinking the putt on the par-4 No. 17 hole at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club north of Portland. Then a friend chased the South Korean around the green, trying to douse her with champagne.
Hur shot a final-round 65, while Pettersen and veteran Michele Redman each finished with a 67 to finish at 13-under 203 and set up the playoff.
Redman, whose last tour victory came in 2000, was knocked out when she missed a short putt for par on the first playoff hole, the par-4 No. 18.
U.S. Amateur: Byeong Hun-An defeated Clemson senior Ben Martin 7 and 5 at Tulsa, Okla., to become the youngest champion at the U.S. Amateur. It's the second straight year the winner has been the youngest in the history of the event, which has been around since 1895 and played 109 times.
A 17-year-old born in South Korea, An took a 3 up lead by winning three of the last four holes in the pairing's first of two 18-hole rounds. He doubled that edge as Martin bogeyed five of the first seven holes in the afternoon round.
An is about a month and a half younger than Danny Lee was when he broke Tiger Woods' record last year to become the U.S. Amateur's youngest champion. Lee was 18 years, 1 month at the time of his victory.
Johnnie Walker Championship: Peter Hedblom of Sweden shot a 5-under 67 to win the Johnnie Walker Championship title by 1 stroke over Martin Erlandsson at Gleneagles, Scotland. Erlandsson had 10 birdies in his 10-under 62 to take second place. Hedblom won his third European Tour title at 13-under 275.