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You would be hard-pressed to find a player who has enjoyed more success in the FedEx Cup playoff system than FJ ambassador, Steve Stricker. Since the playoffs began back in 2007, Stricker has accumulated an impressive seven top-10 finishes in 12 events, including victories in the first-ever playoff tournament (2007 The Barclays) and last year's Deutsche Bank Championship. As they say, some players are built for the playoffs! Check out this blog item on Boston.com from Stricker himself for more insight into the playoff system, his preparation and his chances entering the playoffs as the #2 seed.

Who is your pick to win the 2010 FedEx Cup?

FootJoy ambassador Steve Stricker closed with a final round 1-under 70 to narrowly defend his title at the John Deere Classic. Stricker, who wore custom DryJoys through the MyJoys program and a Pure Touch Limited glove, saw his six shot overnight lead wilt to just two but was able to hold on and defeat fellow FJ player Paul Goydos (FJ ICON style #52062, SciFlex). Inclusive of Stricker and Goydos, 13 of the top 14 players on the leaderboard trusted FJ.

Playing without the same razor sharp precision that had allowed him to record the lowest 54--hole total in PGA Tour history, Stricker played safe most of the day. However, he came through with a clutch birdie after driving into the trees on No. 17 and finished with a 26-under 258 total - a new record for the tournament.

“You don’t want to give shots away and then you end up playing a little safer than you normally do and it leads to tougher birdie putts,” Stricker said. “Then they creep in closer because they were playing some good golf.”

Goydos, who dazzled the golf world with his 59 in the opening round, shot a solid 66 but still fell short of dethroning Stricker, who won for the ninth time in his career. Both players boarded a plane Sunday night for Scotland and will compete in the Open Championship at St. Andrews this week.

“Strick was hard to catch,” Goydos said. “I tried and kept pushing and chipping and grinding and biting at him and doing what I could. But in the end, the putt he made on 17 was a world-class putt. That’s what top five players do, that’s what Ryder Cup players do.”

For the fifth consecutive week, a FootJoy player claimed victory on the PGA TOUR as Steve Stricker (SYNR-G style #53883, PureTouch Limited glove) closed with a 1-under 70 Sunday for a two-shot victory over fellow FJ player Luke Donald (FJ ICON MyJoys) at the Northern Trust Open.

Stricker finished with a 16-under 268 total and won for the eighth time in his career and the fourth time in his last 15 starts. He also moved up to No. 2 in the world golf rankings for the second time in his career.

Stricker didn’t make it easy on himself, having to grind for pars as Donald kept pouring in birdies. But after Donald missed two short birdie attempts, Stricker fired off two straight birdies to restore a comfortable margin.

“It was hard today,” Stricker said. “I aged a lot out there. It was a grind from the get-go.”

Stricker seemed to struggle all day, missing several greens to the left but he had five consecutive one-putt greens and continued to get himself out of minor jams.

Half of Stricker’s eight career victories have come in the last eight months dating to his playoff win at Colonial. He turns 43 later this month, and shows no sign of letting up.

"Team Wisconsin," Steve Stricker and Jerry Kelly, won the Shark Shootout this past weekend, posting a final round 13-under 59 for one shot victory after several teams made a late charge in the Scramble format. The duo, who both wear FootJoy gloves and SYNR-G shoes, began the day with a one shot lead and battled with another FootJoy team, Kenny Perry (SciFlex glove) and JB Holmes (SYNR-G shoes, RainGrip glove) until Perry and Holmes failed to convert birdie putts at the last that would have forced a playoff.

Perry and Holmes came out firing and quickly took the lead on the final day. They eagled the par-5 first hole, and birdied 11 of the next 13 to get to 25 under but Stricker and Kelly rallied coming up the back. They birdied 14, 15 and 16 but didn't actually take the lead again until Stricker made an eagle on the par-5 17th -- hitting the second shot and the putt.

The Kelly/Stricker combination was the only team in this week's field with both players posting victories on the PGA TOUR this season. Kelly won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Stricker posted three victories at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, John Deere Classic and Deutsche Bank Championship.

"It's another feather in our cap," said Stricker, the world's No. 3 player who won three times on the PGA TOUR this year. "This is a lot of fun. We came here to have fun and to play well at the same time, and we did that."

"We were a very good team," Kelly said. "It didn't seem like we were consistently in there with two really good birdie chances, but one of us always seemed to step up."

With just one event remaining in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, three FootJoy players, all of whom wear SYNR-G shoes, control their own destiny. With a win in two weeks at East Lake GC in Atlanta, Steve Stricker, Zach Johnson and Heath Slocum can win the coveted FedEx Cup and the $10 million top prize. Stricker and Slocum earned their spot in the top five via dramatic playoff victories. Slocum, who was the second last player to qualify for the playoffs, made a clutch par putt on the 72nd hole at The Barclays to capture the first playoff event and Stricker followed suit the next week, getting up and down for a clinching birdie at the 72nd hole to win by one at the Deutsche Bank Championship. For Zach, it's been consistency throughout the season that has put him in this position. Victories at the Sony Open and Valero Texas Open, as well as 12 other top 25 finishes, including his fifth place at the BMW Championship, assured this major champion a shot at the season's cumulative championship.

Stricker, now the #2 ranked palyer in the world will be making his sixth appearance at the TOUR Championship, while it will be the second for Slocum and fourth for Johnson who, most recently, tied for second back in 2007. With more than half of the 30 players at East Lake wearing FootJoy shoes, we like the odds of an FJ player bringing home the hardware from the TOUR Championship. If it's Stricker, Slocum or Johnson, there will be an additional 10 million reasons to celebrate!