STEVE STRICKER OR LUKE DONALD?

By mustang6560 on 7/11/11

What is more impressive - Steve Stricker three-peating at the John Deere Classic in Illinois or Luke Donald cementing his number one ranking with a victory at the Scottish Open.

Clearly, both are impressive feats, however I think Steve’s victory at TPC Deere Run beats out Luke’s victory at Castle Stuart by a hair for a couple reasons.

First, Steve became only the 10th golfer since World War II to win a golf tournament three times in a row. The list also includes a few names you might have heard of before - Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus,Tom Watson, Ben Hogan and Johnny Miller (Tiger has three-peated six times).

Second, he won in style on Sunday. After leading by five strokes heading into the back nine, Steve saw his lead turn into a two stroke deficit to PGA Tour Rookie Kyle Stanley. It took a bogey from Kyle and dramatic 25-foot putt birdie putt from off the green on hole 18, but Steve was able hang on by the skin of his teeth to win for the second time this year.

"It was an unbelievable week and an unbelievable finish," Stricker said. "I still can't believe I'm sitting here."

"I really did feel like the momentum was gone for a while," he said. "Those holes kind of derailed me there."

If you didn’t see Steve’s putt on hole 18, click the link below to watch it. It truly was an impressive putt in general, but to win a tournament, it’s unbelievable!

Even though Steve’s three-peat was more impressive, I don’t want to overlook Luke’s accomplishment across the pond though. Being the top player in the world apparently doesn’t mean as much any more because Tiger’s out, but you have to give credit where credit is do. Carrying the weight of the #1 ranking is difficult and winning with the weight is even more difficult so I’d like to give Luke a tip of the cap.

Too bad for Luke, though, because the person who won the Scottish Open has never won the Open Championship the following week. I guess he’ll have to wait until the PGA Championship for a shot at winning his first major and truly solidifying his #1 ranking.


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photo by kompuder_dude

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