Stephanie's Wei:
Hoffman putts his way to win, Masters
NORTON, Mass. - Charley Hoffman shot a scorching nine-under 62 in the final round of the Deutsche Bank Championship to run away with the trophy by five strokes over Jason Day, Geoff Ogilvy and Luke Donald. In fact, Hoffman carded so many birdies (11) that he lost track. Coming down the stretch, he was in the zone and didn't catch a leaderboard until right before he rolled in birdie number nine on the 15th hole.The laidback California native, who is probably most recognizable by his flowing, crimped, almost-shoulder-length blond hair or kelly green golf glove, only needed 22 putts on his way to second career victory and moved to second in the FedEx Cup points standings, securing a spot in the Tour Championship and all four majors in 2011.
Now the question is whether Hoffman's effort at the eleventh hour was impressive enough to snag one of four wildcard spots on the American Ryder Cup team. Captain Corey Pavin is set to announce his picks at 10:30am EST at the NYSE on Tuesday.
Hoffman acknowledged he wasn't even on Pavin's radar before winning on Monday. But he actually petitioned assistant captain Paul Goydos for a berth earlier in the week.
"I go, hey, Paul, do you have any influence on the captain's pick, just joking with Paul being myself, and he goes, "well, yeah.' I go, well, put a good word in for me. He goes, 'well, you go out and win, you're going to be on the short list.'
"So guess what, Paul. I went out and won, and hopefully I'm on the real short list of the guys that play."
Earlier this year, Hoffman was sidelined with a wrist injury from practicing too much -- mostly bunker shots -- in the off-season. Coincidentally, he holed one from the greenside bunker for birdie on No. 13, where he started to pull away from the rest of the field.
"I had the best seat in the house to watch that," said playing partner Geoff Ogilvy. "He hit great shots all day and putted really well, and as soon as he got himself in trouble he'd go and hole a bunker shot or something like that, so it was a pretty class-act, and he didn't look like doing anything but winning after about three holes."
Meanwhile, DJ Trahan, who finished three groups ahead of Hoffman, lingered around the scoring area behind the 18th green and waited for his friend to congratulate him. Adam Scott joined Trahan and munched on a Cliff bar while he chatted about his former UNLV teammate, who hazed Scott during his freshman year but gave him rides all year because the 17-year-old Australian didn't have a car.
"He's a real down-to-earth guy. I can't say enough about Charley...We played a lot of golf together, and it's good to see him playing up to the potential that he has. He's always been, in my mind, a great player, and you know, hopefully this is a bit of a jump start."
Enough for a Ryder Cup spot, though? Hoffman chose his words carefully, but made it clear he would love to be part of the team.
“Let’s put it this way: Would I be honored to play on the Ryder Cup team?” said Hoffman. “There’s no question. I’d love to play. I think I’d help that team. If I don’t get picked, there’s not a bad pick. All these players who are going to play for the US Team are great players and they’re going to show up there and they’re going to be a great team if I’m on it or off it, but obviously I’d love to be on it.”
Before Monday, Hoffman's best finish was T4 at the RBC Canadian Open. In his last six starts, he has four top-tens (including this win). Otherwise, he had a lackluster year. However, Ryder Cup points are accumulated over the past two years and last season he made 17 cuts in a row and notched three top-ten finishes.
Either way, Hoffman will cherish his big win at TPC Boston, saying if he's not picked, he won't let it take away from his special day. Besides, he's earned a place in next year's Masters field at Augusta, where he's never stepped foot on since turning professional.
"It would be an honor to play and I think I can play well," said Hoffman. "But besides that, definitely getting into Augusta is the best perk, and knowing inside I can close the deal coming down the stretch when I need to."
And that's more than what several auditioning for a berth can say.
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