JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Heath Slocum might have been the one player no one expected to win The Barclays.

He was locked in a tense battle over the final hour yesterday at Liberty National with some of the biggest names in golf — Tiger Woods, Steve Stricker, Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els.

Even more incredible is that a week ago, Slocum was not even sure he would make it to the opening event of the PGA Tour Playoffs. Having missed the cut, he had to wait until the tournament was over to learn that by the slimmest of margins — two points — he was the No. 124 seed out of the 125 players who qualified.

"My fate was not in my own hands," Slocum said.

He had his hands around that putter on the 18th green, however, and delivered the biggest shot of his life.

On the same green where Woods stunned the crowd by missing from 7 feet, Slocum knocked in a 20-foot par for a one-shot victory at The Barclays.

"It was an incredible day, incredible experience," said Slocum, who closed with a 4-under 67 to win for the third time in his career. "At the end of the day, that putt on the last was magical. I'll remember that for the rest of my life."

ELSEWHERE

Champions Tour: Second-round co-leader Loren Roberts birdied the final two holes to finish with a 7-under 65 and a tournament record 18-under 198 total to win the Boeing Classic yesterday by one stroke over Mark O'Meara at Snoqualmie, Wash. O'Meara led by a shot until an untimely bogey on the short, par-4 16th when his second shot found a bunker short of the green.

U.S. Amateur: The U.S. Amateur crowned the youngest champion in its history that started in 1895 when Byeong Hun-An, a 17-year-old Florida high schooler, beat Clemson senior Ben Martin, 7 and 5, yesterday in the 36-hole final at Tulsa, Okla.

European Tour: Peter Hedblom of Sweden shot a 5-under 67 yesterday to finish at 13-under 275 and win the Johnnie Walker Championship title by one stroke over Martin Erlandsson (62) at Gleneagles, Scotland.