Kevin Streelman made two bogeys and one birdie enroute to firing a one-over-par 36 on the front nine on Sunday in the final round of the Travelers Championship.
He began the day T-6 and trailing proven veteran winners, Sergio Garcia, K.J. Choi, Aaron Baddeley and Ryan Moore.
The prospects of him winning his second PGA Tour title were looking rather dim, but that is when things began to get interesting.
Streelman went on a birdie binge on the back nine. After pars at Nos. 10 and 11, he ran off seven consecutive birdies to get to 15-under-par and win the Travelers Championship by two shots over Choi and Garcia.
Choi and Garcia played well and both posted three-under-par 67’s, but they could not hold off the streaking Streelman.
Streelman’s only other win came at the 2013 Tampa Bay Championship. He joined the PGA Tour in 2008 and has finished inside the top 100 in the FedEx Cup every year on tour.
He ended 2013 at No. 13 in the FedEx Cup race and won over $3 million. This win gets him to No. 27 in the FedEx Cup and No. 36 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Garcia had five birdies in the final round, but bogeys at Nos. 9 and 10 proved to be his undoing. Choi made four birdies, but a bogey at No. 3 early in his final round kept him from his first win since the 2011 Players Championship.
Aaron Baddeley had his best finish for some time with a closing one-under-par 69 that got him to 13-under-par and solo fourth.
Ryan Moore had led after the first round with a seven-under-par 63. Successive rounds of 68-66-71 left him at 12-under-par and tied with Brenden Steele for fifth.
Harris English, Jeff Maggert, Chad Campbell and Carl Pettersson all finished at 11-under-par and tied for seventh.
Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar were never factors in the tournament this week and both finish tied for 31st at six-under-par.
Dustin Johnson was among the leaders after firing a pair of 66’s on Thursday and Friday, but a pair of 71’s on the weekend left at six-under-par with Watson and Kuchar.
Stanford standout Patrick Rodgers made his maiden start on the PGA Tour and earned his first cut as a professional. He finished at four-under-par and T-46.