Notebook: Deutsche Bank Champ., Round 4

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NORTON, Mass. -- Steve Stricker posted a 4-under 67 on Monday to capture the 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship by one stroke over Scott Verplank (67) and Jason Dufner (65). The victory, the seventh of his career and a career-high third of the season, comes in the second event in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. It moves Stricker from No. 14 to No. 1 in the standings, 909 points ahead of second-place Tiger Woods.

• The victory for Stricker comes in his 357th career start on the PGA TOUR and seventh at the Deutsche Bank Championship. This week represented the 250th made cut of his career.

• Stricker continues to play well at the Deutsche Bank Championship. After missing his first three cuts from 2003-05, he has since finished T7 (2006), T9 (2007), T13 (2008) and 1st (2009).

• Stricker is one of three players who have played in all 40 rounds of the Playoffs:

• Stricker also leads the PGA TOUR Playoffs for most rounds in the 60s with 28. He posted three sub-70 rounds this week (R1-63, R3-65, R4-67).

• Stricker is now three of eight when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead on the PGA TOUR. His victories came at the 1996 Motorola Western Open, 2007 The Barclays and 2009 Deutsche Bank Championship

• The runner-up finish for Jason Dufner tops his previous career-best of T3 at the 2009 RBC Canadian Open. He had since missed three consecutive cuts before Monday's runner-up effort. The two-time Nationwide Tour winner moves from No. 57 to No. 9 in the FedExCup standings.

• Scott Verplank birdied the final four holes to just miss out in joining Steve Stricker at 17 under for the tournament. The runner-up finish is the 12th of Verplank's career and moves him to No. 5 in the FedExCup standings. Verplank played the final two holes at 9 under this week, including seven birdies and an eagle.

• At the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship, two players were able to advance in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup (John Mallinger and Bo Van Pelt). In 2008, 10 players performed the feat (Tim Herron, Johnson Wagner, Heath Slocum, Ben Crane, Eric Axley, Aaron Baddeley, Fredrik Jacobson, Charley Hoffman, Tommy Armour III and Angel Cabrera). This week, a total of eight players played their way into next week's BMW Championship:

• Marc Leishman eagled the par-5 18th hole to jump to No. 67 in the FedExCup points standings. When Leishman began the final hole, he was projected No. 73 in the standings at the time.

• Tiger Woods (T11) posted an 8-under 63 on Monday at the Deutsche Bank Championship, equaling the lowest final-round at the seven-year event (Woods -- 2006, 2009; Vijay Singh -- 2008). Woods opened up play on Monday by going 6 under on the first seven holes, including a holed 9-iron from 131 yards for eagle on the par-4 sixth. It equaled the lowest final round of his TOUR career, set five previous times:

• Woods' 6-under start through seven holes is not even his best seven-hole start of the season. He opened the second round of the 2009 Buick Open at 7 under through seven holes (B-B-E-B-B-P-B) en route to his 69th (of 70) career victory on TOUR.

• Woods' 63 included a course-record-tying 6-under 30 on TPC Boston's front nine, a record he already shared (2006/4th round) with Adam Scott (2003/2nd round) and Mike Weir (2008/1st round).

• This year marked the sixth time Woods has played the Deutsche Bank Championship and first since 2007. Here's a look at his results in those starts:

• In 14 stroke-play events on TOUR this season, Woods has finished outside the top 10 just twice, a missed cut at the British Open and T11 this week at TPC Boston. He leads the TOUR with 12 top-10 finishes, followed by Steve Stricker (10).

RELATED LINKS

Leaderboard: Round 4 scores
Final results, points
Transcript archive
Live Report: Round 4
Photos: Round 4
Tiger, Phil go low on Monday
FedExCup: Updated points
FedExCup: Wrap-Up

• Retief Goosen (71/T8) is now four of eight when holding the 54-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR. His victories came at the 2001 U.S. Open, 2002 Bellsouth Classic, 2003 Chrysler Championship and the 2004 U.S. Open.

• Sean O'Hair (71/T8) has now held the 54-hole lead/co-lead five times in his career, but has never pulled out a win. This week represented the second 54-hole lead/co-lead of the season for O'Hair (2nd/Arnold Palmer Invitational, T8/Deutsche Bank Championship).

• Defending Deutsche Bank Championship winner Vijay Singh finished T54 this week. His track record at the Deutsche Bank Championship includes four top-4 finishes in six starts (4-2003, 1-2004, 2-2006, T60-2007, 1-2008, T54-2009). With a 2-under 282 total this week, he is now a collective 67-under in seven starts at TPC Boston. The 34-time PGA TOUR winner will miss the rest of the Playoff season, finishing No. 81 in the standings.

• Padraig Harrington (68/T4) appeared in good shape at the turn, sitting at 16-under before a bogey on the par-4 10th hole and a double bogey on the par-4 12th hurt his chances. It represents the 12th consecutive event on TOUR in which he has suffered at least one double bogey or worse. The last event without doing so came at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in late March.

• While seven players entered the final round with a chance to record all four rounds in the 60s, only three pulled the feat off (Jason Dufner, Scott Verplank and Padraig Harrington). Last year, 18 players entered the final round with a chance to record four rounds in the 60s, but only Vijay Singh did so.

• Phil Mickelson, currently No. 12 in the FedExCup standings, finished T27 this week in his 400th PGA TOUR start. He made his third start at the Deutsche Bank Championship (1-2007, MC-2008, T27-2009).

• Local favorite Brett Quigley barely missed advancing to the BMW Championship, finishing just short at No. 71 in the FedExCup standings. He trailed No. 70 Chad Campbell by just four points. The 40-year-old native of Fort Devens, Mass., had missed the cut in five previous starts at the Deutsche Bank Championship before a T21 in 2008 and T61 finish this week.

• The Barclays winner Heath Slocum missed the cut this week but still maintained his third-ranked spot on the FedExCup standings. He has now made seven starts at the Deutsche Bank Championship, with his best outing coming in 2008 (T15).

• Webb Simpson (No. 51) and Marc Leishman (No. 67) are the only PGA TOUR rookies to advance to the third event of the Playoffs.

• Nine players have now started in all 10 career PGA TOUR Playoff events. The list includes Robert Allenby (MC), Stewart Cink (MC), Tim Clark (MC), Jim Furyk (T8), Sergio Garcia (26), Hunter Mahan (T36), Vijay Singh (T54), Steve Stricker (1st) and Camilo Villegas (T61).