Stricker shrugs off uneasy deja vu to outduel Choi

HARRISON, New York, Aug 27 (Reuters) Steve Stricker felt an uneasy wave of deja vu during Sunday's final round of the Barclays Classic, but persevered to end a six-year victory drought by winning at Westchester Country Club.

Stricker watched playing partner K J Choi of South Korea roll in a 47-foot birdie putt at the par-four 12th and sink a 48-foot putt for birdie at 15 to seize the outright lead.

Last month at the AT&T National at Congressional Stricker dueled with Choi in the final pairing and lost after the South Korean holed out from a bunker on the 71st hole.

''I thought, here he goes,'' Stricker told reporters yesterday.

''I was in contention there at AT&T and he holed it out of the bunker at 17. I thought, 'Well here he goes.''' The script, however, was different in the leafy New York suburb, as the 40-year-old American birdied the last three holes to overtake Choi and claim a two-stroke win worth 1.26 million dollars.

''I just had to pay attention to myself and I didn't really worry about what he was doing,'' said Stricker, whose last victory was at the 2001 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Australia.

VOICE CRACKING ''I just tried to stay focused on what I was doing. Even though I wasn't scoring that well, I thought I was hitting well enough to maybe make a few birdies coming in.'' Stricker, one of the game's best putters, put himself in position to score. He drained a 20-footer at the par-three 16th, stuck a sand wedge within four feet at the 17th, and hit a lob wedge to about 10 feet on the final hole.

His voice cracking with emotion as he spoke about his struggles, the emotional Stricker said he put in a lot of work at the end of 2005 when he had to earn back his card.

''That was a big wake-up call,'' he said. ''I put a lot of effort there. I just worked real hard.'' The Wisconsin native spent the harsh Midwestern winter hitting golf balls from a makeshift range stretching out behind a heated mobile home.

Stricker said he regained his swing and some confidence.

''They were little things, not a lot of huge things,'' he said of his discoveries that winter.

''And it kind of filtered down into my mental outlook, too.

They kind of go hand and hand, and I wasn't giving myself the benefit of the doubt a lot of times.

''I was not thinking very positively before I even got up to hit a shot.

''For me it seems like if I can get on a roll and get some confidence, I become a different player.'' REUTERS TB RK