Steve Stricker carded a final-round 4-under 69 to move to 23-under 269 and a three-stroke victory over Martin Laird at the PGA Tour 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Plantation Course, Hawaii. The win is the 12th of his career and comes in his 398th start. Fresh off of an 18th place finish in the 2011 FedExCup, Stricker collects 500 points to take the early lead in the standings over Martin Laird (300 points). 

Stricker matches Dustin Johnson for the TOUR’s second-longest active win streak, with wins in his last four seasons: Phil Mickelson (8 seasons; 2004-11), Dustin Johnson (4 seasons; 2008-11), Stricker (4 seasons; 2009-12). 

Stricker is the only TOUR member with multiple wins in each of his last three years (2009, 2010, 2011) and is now one step closer to increasing that number to four. 

Stricker played the final five holes in 15-under-par this week. 0.

Stricker, Michael Bradley and David Toms were the only players in the 27-man field who competed in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions when it was held at La Costa CC in Carlsbad, CA, before moving to Hawaii in 1999. 

In 72-hole events, Stricker has never lost when entering the final round alone with a lead (7 of 7). The only time he failed to carry the outright lead to victory was at the 90-hole 2009 Humana Challenge (T3) 

Including ties at the top, this is 15th time in his PGA TOUR career that Stricker has held or shared the lead heading into the final round on TOUR. He has gone on to win eight times, including six of the last seven. 

Stricker shared the 54-hole lead with Byrd and Robert Garrigus at this event last year and finished T4. 

Stricker becomes the second-consecutive American winner of the event (Jonathan Byrd/2011). Prior to 2011, the Hyundai produced nine consecutive international winners. 

Martin Laird, 68-70-67-67—272 (-20), 2nd

Playing in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the second time in three years, Martin Laird has yet to shoot a round of par or worse. Laird broke par for the eighth consecutive round on Monday with a 6-under 67. Laird finished T4 here in 2010 and solo-second this year. 

The runner-up finish is the fourth of Laird’s career (2009 Reno-Tahoe Open, 2010 The Barclays, 2010 Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, 2012 Hyundai Tournament of Champions). 

Webb Simpson, 68-68-69-68—273 (-19), T3

Webb Simpson’s 2012 season has begun similar to the way it ended in 2011. The 26-year-old Simpson, who finished second in the FedExCup, finished in the top 10 in six of his final seven events in 2011 including two victories and a runner-up finish. A final-round 5-under 68 on Monday led to a T3 finish this week in Kapalua. 

Simpson’s 2011 season included 12 top-10 finishes, second on TOUR to Luke Donald’s 14. The second-youngest player in the field this week was one of 12 first-time winners from 2011 in the champions-only field.

Jonathan Byrd, 67-71-67-68—273 (-19), T3

Defending champion and first-round leader Jonathan Byrd posted a 5-under 68 on Monday to finish T3. 

Defending champions have done well at this event recently with Geoff Ogilvy winning back-to-back in 2009 and 2010 and Stuart Appleby winning three consecutive events from 2004-2006. 

Byrd has now broken par in 19 of 20 rounds at the Plantation Course. His lone time shooting par or worse came with a final-round 74 in 2008. 

Byrd played in the final group with Stricker on Monday. He was also in the final group with Stricker at the Memorial Tournament, where Stricker carried a three-stroke lead on to victory. 

Miscellaneous Notes 

Playing as a single in the first group on Monday, David Toms (26th) played The Plantation Course in two hours and 31 minutes. His 2-under 71 was his first sub-par round of the week (76-74-75-71) and came on the same day as his LSU Tigers prepared to battle the Alabama Crimson Tide in the BCS Championship game. 

K.J. Choi (T5) and Keegan Bradley (16th) posted the rounds of the day with matching 8-under 65s. 

First-timers at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions: Webb Simpson (T3), Harrison Frazar (T5), Bryce Molder (T7), Chris Kirk (T7), D.A. Points (T12), Kevin Na (T12), Scott Piercy (T12), Keegan Bradley (16th), Scott Stallings (T22), Gary Woodland (24th), Brendan Steele (25th) and Jhonattan Vegas (27th). 

Dating to 1989, just three players have won the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in their first attempt (Daniel Chopra – 2008, Sergio Garcia – 2002, Steve Jones – 1989). 

Third-round leaders/co-leaders have now gone on to win 23 of 29 times at this event. 

Winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions has traditionally sparked an outstanding season – out of the last 20 winners, 2008 champion Daniel Chopra is the only player who failed to advance to the TOUR Championship by Coca-Cola, the fourth and final event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. 

Keegan Bradley (16th) and Michael Bradley (T22) were the only two players with two bogey-free rounds this week, doing so in the first and fourth rounds. 

Bogey-free Rounds:

Friday: Michael Bradley (68), Keegan Bradley (69

Saturday: Steve Stricker (63), Chris Kirk (66), Jonathan Byrd (71)        

Sunday: Nick Watney (68)

Monday: Keegan Bradley (65), Ben Crane (68), Scott Piercy (68), D.A. Points (69), Michael Bradley (69) 

The par-4 13th hole played the toughest this week, yielding an average of 4.222.

Weather

Partly cloudy. Winds NE 10-20 mph. High of 78. 

Final-Round Golf Leaderboard:-

Steve Stricker 68-63-69-69—269 (-23)

Martin Laird 68-70-67-67—272 (-20)

Webb Simpson 68-68-69-68—273 (-19)

Jonathan Byrd 67-71-67-68—273 (-19)

With Steve Stricker's Victory:-

Earns 12th career victory in 398th career start on the PGA TOUR at the age of 44 years, 10 months, 17 days

Kemper Open, Motorola Western Open

World Golf Championships – Accenture Match Play Championship

The Barclays      

Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, John Deere Classic, Deutsche Bank Championship

Northern Trust Open, John Deere Classic

the Memorial Tournament, John Deere Classic

Hyundai Tournament of Champions 

FEDEXCUP STATUS

Collects 500 points and takes the early lead in the FedExCup standings. 

EXEMPT STATUS

Extends fully-exempt status through the 2017 season. 

HYUNDAI TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS NOTES

Wins in his sixth start at the event and notches his fourth-consecutive top 10 (2nd-2008, T10-2010, T4-2011, 1-2012). 

His 63 on Saturday was the lowest second-round score in tournament history. By comparison, it fell just one shy of the low 18 at The Plantation Course (62, Graeme McDowell/2011/R4, K.J. Choi/2003/R3). 

Five-stroke lead on Saturday equaled the largest 36-hole lead at the event (David Duval/1999). Also held a five-stroke lead following the third round, just one shy of the tournament record. 

Along with Michael Bradley and David Toms, the only players in the 27-man field who competed in the Hyundai Tournament of Champions when it was held at La Costa Country Club in Carlsbad, CA, before moving to Hawaii in 1999. 

Becomes the second-consecutive American winner of the event (Jonathan Byrd/2011). Prior to 2011, the Hyundai produced nine consecutive international winners. 

Becomes the seventh winner to post all four rounds in the 60s since the event moved to the Plantation Course in 1999, joining David Duval (1999), Jim Furyk (2001), Ernie Els (2003), Geoff Ogilvy (2009 & 2010) and Jonathan Byrd (2011). 

Stricker’s Weekly statistics:

Driving Distance  268.3 (8th)

Driving Accuracy  40 of 60 (T11)    

Greens in Regulation 59 of 72 (T13)

Total Putts 114 (1)   

Strokes Gained - Putting  5.014 (3rd)          

CAREER NOTES

Matches Dustin Johnson for the second-longest active win streak on TOUR, with victories in his last four seasons: Phil Mickelson (8 seasons; 2004-11), Dustin Johnson (4 seasons; 2008-11), Stricker (4 seasons (2009-12). 

Only TOUR player with multiple wins each of last three years (2009, 2010, 2011) and moves within one win of making it four. 

Has held the outright lead eight times on TOUR heading into the final round and has won seven times, with the only exception at the 90-hole 2009 Humana Challenge (led by three heading into the final round before finishing T3). 

Has converted eight of 15 times when carrying the lead/co-lead into the final round on TOUR, including six of his last seven (failed to convert the lead/co-lead at the 2011 Hyundai Tournament of Champions).           

Nine of 12 career wins on TOUR have come since he turned 40.  

Leads TOUR with 43 consecutive cuts made (Schwartzel second with 19, Tiger Woods owns all-time record of 142).  

Records 87th top-10 finish and 165th top-25 finish of his career. 

2012 PGA TOUR SUMMARY (Tournaments entered—1; in money—1; top-10 finishes—1; victories—1)

Personal Data:- 

BIRTHDATE: February 23, 1967 BIRTHPLACE: Edgerton, WI  HEIGHT: 6-0 WEIGHT: 190

RESIDES: Madison, WI FAMILY: Wife, Nicki; Bobbi Maria, Isabella Nicole

TURNED PRO: 1990  JOINED PGA TOUR: 1994

Source: PGA Tour Media Release, powered by the Golfblogger Network