PARAMUS, N.J. -- About the only thing that went wrong for Hunter Mahan at The Barclays was when the trophy broke. All he had to show for perhaps the biggest victory of his career was a large wreath of roses.
"Am I supposed to put this on, Kentucky Derby style?" he said.
That would have been fitting. The closing stretch was exactly what he needed Sunday.
Mahan pulled away with three consecutive birdies, sealing the victory with a 20-foot putt down the slope on the par-5 17th. That allowed him a bogey from the trees on the final hole for a 6-under 65 and a two-shot victory in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.
He already has two World Golf Championships. Considering the timing, The Barclays felt bigger.
Mahan had gone 48 tournaments and nearly 30 months since his last victory. The only player to never miss a FedEx Cup playoff event, he wanted to keep alive his streak of reaching the Tour Championship every year since this series began in 2007. And he wanted to state his case for a captain's pick for the Ryder Cup team.
This performance will be difficult for U.S. captain Tom Watson to ignore.
"To get a win in an event like this, and the timing that it was, it feels unbelievable," Mahan said.
"This game is all about winning," he said. "You can have a great year and if you don't win, it just feels like you missed out on something. So to get a win, and do it in a tournament like this in this kind of fashion with a 65 on Sunday, feels great."
On a day when six players had at least a share of the lead, Mahan found a way to make it look like a comfortable victory at Ridgewood.
He rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt to take the outright lead on the par-3 15th, hit wedge to 3 feet for a birdie on the 16th and then rolled in a 20-foot birdie on the par-5 17th. That stretched his lead to three shots going to the final hole when Cameron Tringale bogeyed the 18th.
Mahan tried to make it a little more exciting that he needed it to be. He drove into the trees on the right, pitched back to the fairway, pulled his approach into the rough and kept the outcome in doubt until he made the 8-foot bogey putt.
Jason Day, who shared the 54-hole lead with Jim Furyk, would have needed to hole out from the rough on the 18th to force a playoff and he missed the green. Day closed with a 68 and shared second place with Stuart Appleby (65) and Tringale, who celebrated his 27th birthday with a 66.
Furyk has failed to win the last eight times he has held at least a share of the lead going into the final round. He was in the mix until missing the fairway on the 14th and taking bogey, and he wound up with a 70 to finish in eighth place, four shots behind.
Mahan posed with the crystal trophy with his wife and 1-year-old daughter who flew in to surprise him. He wanted one more picture with David Finn, his biggest fan and a popular figure in these parts. Finn is in a wheelchair with a disorder affecting his limbs and leaving him unable to speak.
Mahan got up to leave, picked up the trophy by its top and the bottom mysteriously broke off.
That can be replaced. The victory was one Mahan won't soon forget.
"There's really never a bad time to play good golf," he said. "And this is a really, really good time to play good golf."
Cameron Tringale began the week with questions about disqualifying himself from the PGA Championship several days after the final major ended. He said he had doubts about whether he whiffed a tap-in for bogey and thus signed for a wrong score. He said he wanted a clear conscience.
"Didn't expect it to be this clear," Tringale said with a smile.
This was the best finish of his career, and it paid off handsomely. Tringale, who was No. 61 in the standings, moved all the way up to No. 10 and is virtually certain of being in the Tour Championship, which puts him in the majors next year -- including his first trip to the Masters.
The top 100 players in the FedEx Cup standings advance to the second playoff event next week outside Boston. Seven players outside the top 100 at the start of the week qualified for the Deutsche Bank Championship, including Morgan Hoffmann at No. 124. Hoffman, who grew up minutes away from Ridgewood, played with Mahan and had a 69 to tie for ninth.
Bryce Molder (Conway) didn't make it.
Molder shot a 1-over 72 Sunday and finished at 2-under 282 to earn $21,394 and 110 points, which left him at No. 109 after starting the week at 122.
Geoff Ogilvy earned the 100th spot, only it wasn't in his hands. Ogilvy missed the cut, and his chances came down to Brendon Todd, who made a 15-foot par putt on the last hole. If Todd had missed the putt, Troy Merritt would have been at No. 100 by about a half-point.
Mahan finished at 14-under 270 and earned $1.44 million. He moved to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings, assured of being among the top five players at East Lake with the best shot at capturing the $10 million bonus.
British Open and PGA champion Rory McIlroy, going after his fourth consecutive victory, closed with a 70 and tied for 22nd.
LPGA TOUR
Ryu breaks record
LONDON, Ontario -- So Yeon Ryu won the Canadian Women's Open at London Hunt, breaking the tournament record at 23-under 265.
Ryu, 24, closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-stroke victory over fellow South Korean player Na Yeon Choi.
Ryu opened with a course-record 63 and added rounds of 66 and 67 to take a four-stroke lead into the final day. She took a six-shot advantage to the back nine, but that dropped to a single stroke when she bogeyed the par-4 15th and Choi made a birdie.
Ryu rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 16th and matched Choi with pars on the final two holes. Choi finished with a 67.
Ryu earned $337,500 for her third career LPGA Tour title.
Inbee Park completed a South Korean sweep of the first three spots, shooting a 68 to finish at 18 under.
World No. 1 Stacy Lewis (Arkansas Razorbacks) finished at 7-under 281 after a final round 71 and earned $20,784.
CHAMPIONS TOUR
Dunlap wins in playoff
SNOQUALMIE, Wash. -- Scott Dunlap won the Boeing Classic when he made a short birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff against Mark Brooks.
Dunlap set up his winning putt on the par-5 18th hole with an outstanding approach to the right of the pin that bounced past the hole, and then drew back downhill to within four feet. He missed his eagle try but made his next putt for his first Champions Tour victory.
Brooks, who put himself in jeopardy by landing in a bunker on his drive, just missed a 30-foot putt on his fourth shot.
It was the fifth playoff in the 10-year history of the tournament at TPC Snoqualmie Ridge.
EUROPEAN PGA
Donaldson takes spot
VYSOKY UJEZD, Czech Republic -- Jamie Donaldson shot 4-under 68 to win the Czech Masters and secure a spot on the European Ryder Cup team.
Tied for second with Soren Kjeldsen overnight, Donaldson took the lead when his Danish opponent made two straight bogeys on the last two holes of the front nine. The Welshman surged further ahead with two birdies on the first three of the back nine.
Donaldson birdied six holes and dropped two shots for a total 14-under 274 in windy conditions at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague for his third European Tour victory after the Irish Open in 2012 and Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in 2013.
Donaldson needed a top-seven finish to guarantee a debut in next month's match against the United States at Gleneagles.
WEB.COM TOUR
Ortiz wins, tops list
NORTH PLAINS, Ore. -- Carlos Ortiz won the Portland Open for his third Web.com Tour victory of the season, making him fully exempt on the 2014-15 PGA Tour.
The 23-year-old Ortiz, a former North Texas player from Mexico, closed with an even-par 71 for a one-stroke victory in the regular-season finale. He earned $144,000 to push his tour-leading total to $515,403, with the top 25 on the money list getting PGA Tour cards.
Ortiz finished at 14-under 270 on Pumpkin Ridge's Witch Hollow course. He also won in Panama in March and Mexico in April.
Glen Day (Little Rock) finished at 4-under par and in a tie for 36th.
Sports on 08/25/2014