Rickie Fowler of Murrieta came from three strokes down with eight holes remaining, closing with a 3-under-par 68 to beat Henrik Stenson of Sweden by one stroke in the Deutsche Bank Championship, the second leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
Fowler, who won the Players Championship earlier this season, took the lead with a par on the 16th hole after playing partner Stenson hit his tee shot into the water and took a double-bogey 5 on the same hole.
I wasn’t swinging my best the last few days, but I was proud of the way I fought it out to win,” said Fowler, who rose to third in the FedEx Cup standings with the BWM Championship and the Tour Champion remaining in the playoffs after a week off.
“I didn’t play well early, but made a big birdie on the 11th hole for a two-shot swing. Then Henrik made a mistake on 16 and opened the door. It feels good to come out on top. Just kind of hung in there today. This is special.”
Stenson, who won the Deutsche Bank two years ago on his way to winning the FedEx Cup, seemed to be on control by making birdies on three of the first five holes, but he played the back nine in 1-over while finishing with a 70.
The Swede, who also finished second in The Barclays last week to open the playoffs, missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole that would have forced a playoff.
“I obviously pulled the wrong club on 16 and was trying to get the most out of a 7-iron into the wind and ballooned that one a little bit and that was the crucial mistake,” said Stenson, who has won 20 times in his career from September to December. “Making double there was really a killer.
“I tried to get those two shots back or at least one to force a playoff on the last two holes and couldn’t manage to do it. … But I feel like my game is going in the right direction and I’m going to try to continue that in the rest of the playoffs.”
Charley Hoffman of Poway bounced back from a third-round 76 with a 67 thanks to birdies on the last two holes and finished four strokes back in solo third to climb to sixth in the FedEx Cup standings.
Jim Furyk, the 2010 FedEx Cup champion, shot 70 and was seven strokes behind in a tie for fourth with Patrick Reed and Hunter Mahan, who also had 70s, and Sean O’Hair and Matt Jones of Australia, who both came in at 74.
Matt Kuchar finished with a 71 and was another shot back in a tie for ninth with Daniel Summerhays, who posted a 68, and 48-year-old Jerry Kelly, who came in at 72 and moved into the top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for the BMW Championship.
Jason Day of Australia, who had won three of his previous four tournaments, closed with a 69 and held onto the FedEx Cup points lead with a tie for 12th, while Rory McIlroy rallied with a 66 to tie for 29th along with Bubba Watson, who had a 68.
It’s a bit confusing, but McIlroy regained the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings when Spieth missed the cut in The Barclays and will lose it back this week as the points in the two-year sliding scale shift again.
Spieth, who also missed the cut in the Deutsche Bank, will lose the top spot back to McIlroy when the points reset again next week.
