Final round: Pettersson victorious; Playoffs field set
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- 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.
"Not getting it up and down on 11 kind of (ticked) me off," Pettersson said. "I kind of told myself, 'I'm letting the tournament get away from me again.' ... That was where the tournament was won for me."
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 final event before the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup 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 the second round 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.
"I kind of felt like I let the tournament slip away on 10 and 11," Pettersson said.
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.
"I told myself on the next tee box, 'I got my momentum. I've got to put the pressure on Scott and hit a great tee shot. I've got a chance to really put the hammer down,'" Pettersson said. "And I managed to do it."
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.
"That hole has not been very good to me," Pettersson said. "Finally feel like you got one back on that hole."
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| TRIVIA QUESTION | ||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The par-5, 529-yard fifth was the easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.321.
The par-4, 507-yard 18th was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.205.
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Rich Beem stuck his drive at the par-3 16th hole, leaving himself a tap-in for birdie on his way to a third-place finish in the 2008 Wyndham Championship. 
Martin Laird went way low in the final round with a bogey-free 8-under 62. Had it not been for Laird's terrible second round, the Scot might have won this week. | QUOTE OF THE DAY | ||
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WIN MAKES PETTERSSON'S SCHEDULE TIGHT
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
Carl Pettersson plans to honor his commitment and participate in a fund-raiser for N.C. State, where he attended college, on at Prestonwood Country Club in Raleigh, N.C., on Monday.
The popular winner of the Wyndham Championship in his adopted hometown had better find some time to get some rest, though, since his victory at Sedgefield on Sunday all but assured him of a spot in all four events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Pettersson moved 45 spots from 58th to 13th in the final standings as the field of 144 is reset entering this week's first Playoff event, The Barclays. The field is cut to 120 for the Deutsche Bank Championship and 70 for the BMW Championship.
Only the top 30 get to play in THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola, which will decide the winner of the $10 million bonus, though -- and Pettersson will start the Playoffs well within the number.
"Obviously this week has been fantastic," the soft-spoke Swede said. "I just kept telling myself I could do it, and it was an unbelievable feeling today."
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| What the leaders said | ||||||||||||||||
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INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
XM Satellite Radio announcer Doug Bell offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
J.J. Henry had plenty of things on his mind entering the Wyndham Championship. He came here knowing that his wife Lee was scheduled to give birth to the couple's second child on Monday after the tournament. If that wasn't enough, he still had not qualified for the Playoffs.
Somehow, he put all the distractions aside and recorded a final-round 62, his best of the year, to finish T4 and secure a trip to New Jersey next week. J.J. said he felt right at home, staying with friends who live near the second hole at Sedgefield C.C.. He met them back in 1999 when he played in the Nationwide event in Greensboro.
As for the newest addition to his family? J.J. flew home to Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday night, and will fly to New Jersey on Tuesday night after the birth. ...
Rich Beem had only one thing on his mind during the final round and that was making the first round of the Playoffs. When he rolled in a birdie on the 18 for a final-round 63 that vaulted him into third place, he let out a huge yell, and a series of fist pumps. Beem told me his reaction was a culmination of a frustrating season in which he played well but couldn't score. ...
Bob Sowards will not be in the Playoffs, but his T9 finish was the best of his career. His coach John Decker, an East Carolina graduate, flew in from Ohio to follow his pupil from start to finish. It was Sowards' best ball-striking week of the year.
TRENDS AND TIDBITS ON TOUR
Kent Jones posted a 1-under 69 on Sunday to finish tied for 20th. Playing well at Sedgefield Country Club isn't unfamiliar territory for Jones. In 2000, he won the Nationwide Tour's Greensboro Open at Sedgefield, firing rounds of 66-66-67-64 for a three-stroke win over amateur Charles Howell III and Jay Hobby.
| 5 | Number of players who used this week to make the Playoffs |
| 144 | The FedExCup position occupied by Lee Janzen, the last qualifier for the Playoffs |
| 42 | Number of days until the FedExCup champion will be revealed |
Tournament winner Carl Pettersson (64-61-66-68) was one of 31 players to post all four rounds in the 60s this week.
With Pettersson's win, the third-round leader has now gone on to win 20 of 36 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR in 2008.
Rich Beem, who made the cut on the number (3-under 137) this week, posted matching career-record-tying 7-under 63s on the weekend to finish in solo-third place. Beem, who entered the week No. 166 on the FedExCup points list, easily made it into the PGA TOUR Playoffs in the 114th spot.
Dating back to his bogey on the first hole of the second round, Bob Estes (tied for 30th) played the final 53 holes without a bogey this week. Scott Sterling (tied for 15th) had the second-best streak to finish the tournament with 41 consecutive bogey-free holes.
Bogey-free rounds during the final round were turned in by J.J. Henry (62), Zach Johnson (64), Shane Bertsch (64), Bob Estes (66), Vaughn Taylor (67) and Scott Sterling (68).
FEDEXCUP FURY
J.J. Henry gave it his all on Sunday, firing out a bogey-free 8-under 62 that moved him up from a tie for 24th to a tie for fourth.
"It was a long time coming, to be honest with you. Again, I've put myself in somewhat of a position a couple times this year and really struggled on Sunday and really it's something to myself to -- I really felt I was motivated to move today."
Motivated might not be a strong enough word for what Henry pulled off in the final round of the Wyndham Championship. The 33-year-old New Englander navigated Sedgefield Country Club like it was his home, which it sort of was for the week. Henry wasn't only playing on the course, he was also staying on it with his whole family.
Add to that fact Henry's wife is due to give birth tomorrow, and you might say that he was feeling a little pressure to perform on Sunday. And perform he did.
Henry not only earned his first top-10 finish of the 2008 season, he also earned a spot in the field for The Barclays -- the first event of the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. Had it not been for Henry's outstanding play in Greensboro, he would not have finished the Regular Season inside the top 144 in FedExCup standings.
Henry knows just what an achievement that was. "I was obviously on the outside looking in this week and to really play good and shoot 62 today to advance, I'm real proud of that."
We'll see what he's got next week at Ridgewood Country Club.
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