The Serve

Oglivy fourth at The Barclays

Four birdies on the last five holes has given Steve Stricker The Barclays, his first title since 2001.

Stricker started the day in the lead by one but spluttered, until midway through the back nine, where he scorched the Westchester course to finish the round with a 2 under 69 and the tournament at -16. Stricker beat KJ Choi by two shots, with South African Rory Sabbatini a further shot back in third.

Geoff Ogilvy finished in a tie for fourth, with Ernie Els and Mark Calcavecchia on -12.

Ogilvy had a bogey free round round, but he couldn’t get a run going, with birdies on 5 and 14 to shoot a 69.

At one stage ten players were in three of the lead in a stellar opening the PGA Tour’s new playoff system.

Stricker leads the FedEx Cup standings, with Choi second. Tiger Woods drops from first to fourth after skipping this event.

“Obviously, winning the tournament is foremost. Everything that comes after that is icing on the cake. But yeah, I’m in great position now,” Stricker said.

Adam Scott shot a 3 under 68 to finish in a tie for 14th at -8, Aaron Baddeley was 25th at -5. Nick O’Hern and Rod Pampling 35th at -4, Andrew Buckle faded with a costly 74 to limp into 65th, Nathan Green 69th.

Buckle’s poor day has left him out of the FedEx top 120, eliminating him from next weeks Deutsche Bank championship. Matthew Goggin, Steve Allan and Gavin Coles have also been cut from the playoffs. Scott has lifted from tenth to ninth, while Ogilvy has risen to seventeenth.