JERSEY CITY, New Jersey, (Reuters) – Unheralded American Heath Slocum won the Barclays Classic by one stroke yesterday after rolling in a 21-foot putt to save par on the 18th hole and finish ahead of big-name players including Tiger Woods.
The 197th-ranked Slocum, who holed out from 158 yards to eagle the 442-yard par-four fifth, posted a final-round 67 for a nine-under-par 275 total at Liberty National.
Tied for second on 276 were Woods, who shot a 67, triple major champions Ernie Els of South Africa (66), Padraig Harrington of Ireland (67) and American Steve Stricker (69). Stricker came to the 18th tied with Slocum on nine-under.
Slocum hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker on the right, and Stricker landed in a bunker to the left. Both players blasted out into the fairway.
Stricker stuck a 70-yard approach within 10 feet but, after Slocum drained his par putt, the 42-year-old slid his 10-footer by the left edge to miss out on a sudden-death playoff.
Slocum, who ranked second-last among Barclays qualifiers at 124 on the FedExCup points list, won $1.35 million.
Tied for sixth place on seven-under-par 277 were Sweden’s Fredrik Jacobson and American Nick Watney.
