Hometown hero Pettersson wins Wyndham as regular season ends

8/18/2008

Carl Pettersson was one imperfect hole from leading the full final two rounds of the Wyndham Championship. It was that brief slip-up that propelled the Swede to victory in his adopted hometown.

Pettersson won his local tournament for his first PGA Tour victory in two years, shooting a 2-under 68 on Sunday for a two-stroke victory at Sedgefield Country Club.

Irked by a bogey on the 11th hole that temporarily dropped him into second place, Pettersson responded with three birdies during the four-hole stretch that followed to finish at 21-under 259 and earn $918,000.

Scott McCarron briefly led midway through the final round before fading into second with a 68. Rich Beem's second straight 63 left him four strokes off the lead, with J.J. Henry (62) and rookie Martin Laird (63) another shot behind him.

But there was never any question that the last day of the PGA Tour's final pre-playoff event was anything but a two-man showdown.

Pettersson made his move immediately after slipping out of the lead for the first time since Friday, when his tournament-record 61 in Round 2 shot him up the leaderboard. He began the back nine with consecutive bogeys, falling one stroke back to 19 under when he missed an 8-foot par putt on the 11th.

McCarron gave the stroke back on the 12th, missing a 13-foot birdie putt and lipping out a 4-foot par attempt during just his second bogey, then saying afterward that "I thought I kind of let it go" on that hole.

Pettersson birdied the 13th for a one-stroke lead, then went back up by two shots with a birdie on the par-5 15th -- the easiest hole on the course for everyone but him, after two bogeys and a par on it. This time it was McCarron's turn for trouble; he sent his second shot into the sand, recovered and lipped out an 8-foot birdie putt.

McCarron's bogey on the 17th all but locked up Pettersson's first victory since the 2006 Memorial. Among those joining in the celebration were N.C. State coach Richard Sykes and former Wolfpack teammate Tim Clark, who tied for sixth.

Leaderboard – Final:

1. Carl Pettersson                 SWE  64 61 66 68 259 -21
2. Scott McCarron                  USA  65 64 64 68 261 -19
3. Rich Beem                        USA  70 67 63 63 263 -17
4. J.J. Henry                         USA  70 66 66 62 264 -16
    Martin Laird                      SCO  63 74 64 63 264 -16
6. Tim Clark                          SAF  64 67 68 66 265 -15
    John Senden                     AUS  66 66 67 66 265 -15
    Kevin Streelman                USA  66 64 67 68 265 -15
9. Shane Bertsch                   USA  67 68 67 64 266 -14
    Mark Wilson                      USA  68 67 67 64 266 -14
    Michael Letzig                   USA  67 66 67 66 266 -14
    Bob Sowards                     USA  65 66 68 67 266 -14
    Jerry Kelly                         USA  66 65 68 67 266 -14
    Briny Baird                        USA  67 68 62 69 266 -14

Source: AP, PGA Tour