DUBLIN, Ohio -- Steve Stricker finally found the winning formula at the Memorial on Sunday. Marcus Cooper . Stricker, who had never finished in the top 10 in his 11 previous trips to Muirfield Village, built a big lead with more flawless golf on the front nine, then relied on his silky putting stroke for two clutch pars to hang on for a one-shot victory. He closed with a 4-under 68, lagging from 20 feet for a two-putt bogey on the 18th hole. By then, the hard work was over. Stricker twice saved par from bunkers on the 16th and 17th holes, making putts of 15 feet and seven feet to go to the last hole with a two-shot lead. "It wasnt pretty," Stricker said to tournament host Jack Nicklaus walking off the 18th green. Matt Kuchar and Brandt Jobe each closed with a 65 to tie for second. The 44-year-old Stricker moves to No. 4 in the world and becomes the highest-ranked American for the first time in his career. He won for the 10th time in his career, and the seventh time since he turned his game around five years ago. Dustin Johnson closed with a 65 to finish fourth, followed by Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who had a 68. The biggest consolation prize went to Gary Woodland, who had a 68 to finish alone in sixth. Woodland likely will move to about No. 40 in the world ranking, making him virtually a lock to get into the U.S. Open. He had faced a 36-hole qualifier Monday morning. Stricker, who led by four shots at the turn, made it more interesting than it needed to be, especially after a 2 1/2-hour storm delay that slowed his momentum following a spectacular bunker save behind the 12th green. He had a three-shot lead with five holes to play when he missed a short birdie on the 14th, then pulled his tee shot into the woods on the par-5 15th to make a bogey. His lead was down to two, and he faced a tough finish. Stricker found the back bunker on the par-3 16th and blasted out to 15 feet, lightly pumping his fist when it dropped in the centre of the cup for par to keep the two-shot cushion. From the middle of the 17th fairway, he badly pushed his six-iron off a mound and into a deep bunker right of the green. He splashed it out to seven feet, and the par putt again was never in doubt. Needing only a bogey to win, Stricker hit into a fairway bunker on the 18th, missed the green to the left and was happy to chip onto the top tier to 20 feet that locked up his first win of the year. "It was a little bit of a struggle since we came in from the rain delay," he said. "At that point, I was trying not to make a mistake. I hung tough, made a couple of crucial putts when I had to." While the par putts at the end were crucial, his bunker shot on No. 12 was equally big. He had to play away from the flag, bounced it out through the rough and saw it settle a foot from the cup. Stricker finished at 16-under 272 and earned US$1,116,000. Almost as sweet as the trophy was getting a handshake and hug from Nicklaus behind the 18th green. "Its pretty special walking off," Stricker said. "Hes a friend, and its truly an honour." Luke Donald, in his first tournament at No. 1 in the world, never had a chance to win but never quit trying. Donald closed with a 68 and tied for seventh, his 10th consecutive finish in the top 10 in worldwide golf. It was a tale of two nines for Stricker, as it had been all week. He played the front nine in 20-under par, including his six birdies Sunday when he made the turn in 30 to build the big lead. He played the back nine in 4 over, and didnt have another shot to spare. Kuchar and Jobe did all the could to catch him. "My 5 under on the front didnt gain any ground on him," Kuchar said. "It was tough to see. Got two more on the back, played great golf. But looks like its just not quite good enough." Jobe has been battling injuries over the past several years, and the $545,600 pushes him over $1.16 million for the season and assures him keeping his card for next year. Jobe put the most pressure on Stricker by running off five straight birdies around the turn. "I thought if we would have gone out and shot 65, that might have been good enough," Jobe said. "But it looks like were going to be a little short. It was his tournament to kind of win or lose, and hes going out there and winning it." Woodland would not get the official ranking until later Sunday night. He came into the week at No. 54, and the top 50 after next week are exempt from qualifying. Despite a bogey on the 18th hole, his sixth-place finish should be more than enough to stay in the top 50. Stricker now heads to Congressional in two weeks as one of the players who could be a big factor in the U.S. Open. He was a runner-up at Congressional in 2007 during the AT&T National, and that putting stroke goes a long way on any course. Rodney Hudson .com) - Alabama and Florida State were predictably the top two teams in the latest installment of the BCS standings. Derrick Thomas . PAUL, Minn. KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Salvador Perez has gone from cold to hot in three games. Perez homered and drove in four runs and the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 10-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Perezs two-run double off Sergio Santos in the Royals six-run eighth put the Royals ahead. Perezs four RBIs matched his career high. The Royals had scored only four runs in the eighth inning in their first 24 games. Perez, who has three consecutive multi-hit games, homered in the seventh with Alex Gordon aboard to trim Torontos lead to 5-4. He was mired in a 1-for-29 skid before breaking out with seven hits in the past three games. "I see a couple of sliders and a couple of split-finger then they made a mistake on a fastball a little inside and up and I hit it pretty good," Perez said. The Royals sent 10 men to the plate in the eighth, which also included Omar Infante driving in two runs after collecting six RBIs on Sunday. Nori Aoki and Jarrod Dyson added RBI singles. "Thats the motto in here, never give up and always play like were in it," Dyson said. "You just need to scratch one, scratch two and we gained momentum and just took off from there. It was all momentum. Salvador put us back in there. That was the game-changer right there. We kind of knew we were coming back after that." Aaron Crow (1-1), the third of four Royals pitchers, picked up the victory with a scoreless eighth inning and has not allowed an earned run while allowing only five hits in nine innings this season. Brett Cecil (0-2) took the loss, retiring only two of the five batters he faced. The Blue Jays bullpen gave up seven runs in two innings after starter Dustin McGowan left the game. "We just got hit tonight," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said of his relievers. "We had an off day yesterday so they were fresh. We didnt help things out. We let guys take the extra base by missing the cutoff man. Youre not going to win that way. Weve proved that we can play good defeence. Kyle Williams. ." Jose Bautista homered for the Blue Jays off Royals left-hander Jason Vargas and has reached base in all 26 games. Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double and triple, and drove in two Toronto runs. He tops the majors with 41 hits. Cabreras triple in the fifth scored Jose Reyes, who had doubled. Cabrera scored on Vargas wild pitch, putting the Blue Jays up 3-2. McGowan, who has missed three seasons with injuries, pitched into the seventh inning, holding the Royals to three hits and three runs, two earned. "Im really encouraged," McGowan said. "I went deep into the game. Thats all Ive been wanting to do. Sometimes the results are overshadowed by the innings youve pitched. But good things happen when you get deep in games." The Royals took advantage of two walks and a wild pitch, plus a throwing error on catcher Dioner Navarro to score two runs in the second inning. The Royals won a challenge review in the second, taking away a RBI infield single from Chris Getz. The Royals have scored 19 runs in winning the past two games. "Its going to click; we know that," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said of the offence. "Were confident in our group. Weve been getting some timely hits. Its a great thing about this offence. It could be a different guy every day that steps up and has a big night. Salvy obviously had that night tonight." NOTES: Royals LHP Bruce Chen received a shot for a bulging disc in his lower back and will miss a start. Chen will attempt to a throw a side session Thursday and if that goes well would start Saturday against Detroit. ... Getz had his contract purchased from Triple-A Buffalo, where he hit .309 in 18 games. The Jays optioned rookie IF Ryan Goins, who was hitting .150 with two extra-base hits in 60 at-bats, to Buffalo. ... The start of the game was delayed 27 minutes by rain. ... The Royals scored a season-high 10 runs and are 13-0 when scoring four or more runs. wholesale nfl jerseys ' ' '
