Hoffman's source of pain turns into a strength during his sizzling 62

NORTON, Mass. -- Prior to entering the 2010 season, Charley Hoffman -- like any good pro with lofty aspirations -- thought about the part of his golf game needing the most improvement. It didn't take him long to figure out the answer: Bunker play.

It had been a sore spot during his winless 2009 season. Hoffman ranked 130th on the PGA TOUR in sand-save percentage. "Borderline horrendous," he said. And he was not good enough in other areas to compensate for his poor play out of the bunker.

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So Hoffman found a short-game specialist, James Sieckmann from Omaha, Neb., who has coached several other TOUR pros. They went to work. It was a furious pace. Hoffman logged endless hours in the sand, practicing his bunker shots, striving to get better.

He worked hard. Maybe too hard. Hoffman's left wrist was so sore that he had to take five weeks off in the spring to let it heal. The diagnosis? The injury was caused from practicing too much on his bunker game.

But in the final round Monday of the Deutsche Bank Championship, with Hoffman tied with Luke Donald for the lead, all those hours in the sand paid off.

Standing awkwardly in the greenside bunker at TPC Boston's 13th hole, the ball below his feet, Hoffman kept his knees flexed and committed to the shot, powering through the sand. The ball popped up nicely, landed halfway to the pin that was 48 feet away, then made a beeline right to the cup.

Birdie. He hadn't just saved par, he gained a stroke. He was now the outright leader -- and no one would catch him

When you shoot a breathtaking 9-under 62 in the final round to win a PGA TOUR event, there are many great moments. Hoffman had plenty to choose from in his five-stroke win; after all, the California native with the long blonde hair made 11 birdies Monday en route to tying the tournament's 72-hole record of 22 under set by Vijay Singh in winning here two years ago.

But that bunker shot has a significant back story. To think that what once was a weakness, then was a cause for pain, and now had turned into a strength when the heat and the pressure was at its greatest ... well, maybe that's a bit of poetic justice.

"A little ironic, yeah," Hoffman said after his second TOUR win jumped him to the No. 2 spot in the FedExCup standings behind Matt Kuchar.

Hoffman left no doubt that working with Sieckmann -- who had come recommended by fellow TOUR pro Tom Pernice Jr. -- was the turning point in his improved play. This year Hoffman now ranks 70th on TOUR in sand saves, a jump of 60 spots from a year ago. And few players this year can claim a bigger shot out of the bunker than the one at the 13th on Sunday.

"I can tell you right now -- if I wouldn't have met that guy (Sieckmann), I wouldn't have won this golf tournament," Hoffman said. "I could barely get it out of the bunkers before, pretty shocking.

"He's helped tremendously with my short game and my bunker game, and I appreciate all the help he's given me and all the knowledge he has."

That shot at the 13th gave Hoffman the outright lead for good, but his bunker shot at the 14th was nearly as important. With playing partner Geoff Ogilvy in birdie position, Hoffman found the greenside bunker again. But he blasted out to within five feet to save par.

Meanwhile, Ogilvy missed his birdie putt from inside seven feet. Had he made it, and had Hoffman bogeyed, Ogilvy would've been just one shot off the lead, able to put some pressure on his playing partner.

Instead, he remained three behind and would ultimately finish tied for second with Luke Donald and Jason Day. In the end, as Hoffman steamrolled through the back nine with six birdies, all the Australian could do was stand back and admire the show.

"I had the best seat in the house to watch that," Ogilvy said. "He hit great shots all day ... and as soon as he got himself in trouble, he'd go and hole a bunker shot or something like that."

Ogilvy said he knew after about three holes that this might be Hoffman's day. That was right in the middle of an early streak of four consecutive birdies that Hoffman posted to climb into contention after starting the day four shots off the 54-hole lead held by Day.

"You can tell when you look at a guy and it just looks like his day," Ogilvy said. "... I think everyone is going to be pretty happy because he's a pretty popular guy out here."

Like Hoffman, Day was seeking his second win on the PGA TOUR. Unlike Hoffman, Day is 22 years old and has his entire future ahead of him.

At 33, Hoffman is at the point where he should be starting the prime of his career. Maybe this will jumpstart it.

Day was disappointed not to seal the deal on Monday, but it's hard to kick yourself when the other guy shoots 62.

"You can only go out there and try your hardest and give it 100 percent, and at the end of the day if you're walking back with a trophy, then that's great," Day said. "But if someone comes and shoots a score like that, you really can't do anything about it."

Indeed, there was nothing anybody could do to stop Hoffman on Monday. And now that he's turned a weakness into a crunch-time strength, there may be no stopping him in the future.