Sometimes things just go your way. Sometimes, you get really lucky. And sometimes, even a bad day can turn out pretty cool.

Sunday, Wisconsin’s Steve Stricker was all of the above.

He started the day with a 2-shot lead, but the 18 holes standing between him and the title would make nothing easy.

He was in danger of unraveling on the par-four fifth after needing two shots to get out of a fairway bunker. To add insult to injury, he missed a bogey putt from eight feet out. He seemed to recover with a birdie on the next hole that reestablished some momentum, then nailed a stellar 50-footer for birdie to close the front side.

But it only got harder from there.

See, as Stricker battled down the pressure, the rookie Kyle Stanley built it higher.

Stanley had been fun to watch all week, but Sunday’s back nine finally made things interesting. He started with five birdies through the first six. He was killing it, and dissolving the defending champion’s five-stroke lead in the process. Two more bogeys for Stricker made Kyle the new leader.

The luck that followed Steve all week seemed to turn on him. I mean, the guy had two bunker shots hit the lip of the trap and roll back in. Once, the ball was buried so deep into the sand that he had to dig around just to find it.

Still, Stricker — crediting his caddie, Jimmy Johnson, for the underlying calm — never seemed rattled. Upset at himself on occasion, yes. But out of control? Never.

But down by two strokes with two holes left, things were looking a little grim. Everyone felt it, too.

“It got quiet out there for a while,” Stricker said. “[The fans] have been so good to me all week long. I’ve had all this momentum all week long, and on the back nine it just kind of stalls, and I could feel like I was dragging everybody down.”

When the momentum shifted toward Stanley, so too did the pressure. He’d chased down Stricker, but holding him off was a different story.

After all, Stricker at the JDC is like Dirk Nowitzki at the American Airlines Center – never count him out.

Stricker hit his most aggressive putt of the day at 17, standing over the ball without a hint of hesitation. Both Steve and the entire crowd knew it would drop as soon as he hit it. It was just that good. His troubles weren’t over, though.

Stanley hit a bit of a snag on 18, too, playing in the group just ahead of Stricker.

Kyle’s tee shot went wide right and landed at the edge of the hazard (a jungle of waist-high weeds). Miraculously, he managed enough force on a little punch shot to make up some ground. Still, he’d be shooting out of a bunker, too.

Meanwhile, Stricker’s tee shot on 18 found yet another awkward lie — in the very same bunker he’d hit out of Saturday. This time, there was no clear shot to the green. There’s a long water hazard from the bunker past the green on the left. But there’s a bunker on the right, too.

Oh, and a small tree smack dab in his line of sight.

No biggie, right?

He took an awfully long time looking it over, partly because Stanley took an awfully long time lining up his own par putt — a putt that would force Stricker to birdie for a playoff. But when Stanley’s par putt lipped out, the tide changed. Stricker had a decision to make.

Saturday, he said he “chickened out” on his approach. Today’s shot was harder, but a par would only tie.

His next shot? Well, “gutsy” is putting it mildly. The conservative, playing-not-to-lose Stricker of earlier in the day was gone.

His shot — with his left foot down in the sand, the right up on the grass –landed 25 feet from the flag, just off the back side of the green. With the trophy hanging in the balance and Stanley waiting anxiously in the scoring trailer, Stricker bounced in the most ridiculous birdie put I’ve ever seen.

Off the putter, it looked like it had no chance. But after the ball escaped the fringe, it trickled in off the lip. The crowd, the commentators and Steve himself roared!

It was, in a word, unreal.

Not for the sake of the three-peat, but for the heart behind that shot.

The three-peat was a nice touch, though.

“You know, I kept telling myself all week that it’s not a big deal,” Stricker said. “And it really wasn’t, until today, until that back nine trying to win.”

The first-year rookie had nice perspective, despite struggling with having the win snatched away on the final hole.

“I’m very, very proud of myself for how I handled today,” he said. “The biggest thing is I’m doing a good job of learning from my past experiences, and I’m obviously working on the right things.”

Stricker won by a single stroke, finishing at -22 and became just the 10th golfer since World War II to win a PGA tournament three times in a row.

See Steve, even your worst day ended up pretty cool indeed!

Find complete interview transcripts and final leaderboard at PGATour.com

John Deere Classic day three observations:

• Steve Stricker may rival Albert Pujols for machine-likness (at least at TPC Deere Run).
• Sports fans aren’t used to seeing a girl carry around a television camera.
• Chez Reavie has eyelashes to make a supermodel jealous.

My day started by catching up with the last few groups on the 5th hole. Kyle Stanley made an immediate impact — bouncing his second shot into the flag stick. It unfortunately bounced back, not in, but he had an easy birdie put — his second of six on the day. He also had what became the shot of the day when he dropped a 36-foot eagle put on the 14th hole on his way to a 65 for the day. He sits at -16, in 4th headed into Sunday.

“I have a good game plan for this golf course,” Stanley said after his day ended. “I’ve played it pretty well so far and I just gotta stick to what I’m doing.”

Fourteen guys will start Sunday’s round tied at 10-under, including two of Friday’s leaders. Steve Marino had a rough go of it Saturday, shooting a 2-over-73. Canadian Matt McQuillan joins the -10 club after shooting a 70 on the day.

Zach Johnson’s cool-as-a-cucumber personality was justified after a solidly uneventful third round.

“It seems like it was pretty consistent,” Johnson said. “I mean nothing to get too out of whack … I gave myself a number of opportunities today, I mean a lot of great opportunities. Had a couple just mental lapses out there, specifically on the back nine, but all in all I played solid again.”

Chez Reavie led by 2 strokes after the first two rounds, but keeping up with someone as confident as the two-time reigning champ Steve Stricker would be no easy task.

Reavie held his own most of the day, playing in the last group. But bogeys on two of the last three holes on the front nine cost him the lead. Four birdies on the back nine, though, kept him just three back from a surging Stricker. He’ll have his work cut out for him on Sunday, but he feels prepared for the challenge.

“[Steve's] going to come out, he’s going to play great tomorrow,” he said of Stricker. “He plays great just about every day he plays golf. So I have to come out and make as many birdies as I can and just see where I end up.”

“I’m going to try and shoot as low as I can,” Reavie added. “58′s a pretty good number. ”

Saturday’s second-to-last pair put on quite the show for the packed gallery that followed. Between Stricker and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge, red numbers were flying.

De Jonge played Stricker shot for shot most of the afternoon, carding an identical 63. But matching Stricker wouldn’t be good enough. Not when Steve continued to lower his tournament total, one hole at a time.

“I almost expect it around here,” de Jonge said of Stricker’s strong play. “Obviously he knows how to play this golf course very, very well. He’s very comfortable around it. But no, it’s nice. I do have a chance tomorrow, which is great.”

As for Stricker, one television commentator summed it up by saying this:

“I think they might rename this the Steve Stricker Classic!”

It was another pristine round for the Illinois grad. But while his scores showed no hints of weakness, his journey down the 18th hole was a prime example of his day. From the tee to a bunker left of the fairway, and from there to a bunker right of the green, Stricker was left with a 15+ foot par put.

And he nailed it.

The par save on 18 capped off his round complete with eight birdies.

Still, the ever-humble Stricker is quite simply focused on doing his job come Sunday afternoon.

“You know, it’s fun,” Stricker said. “I feel pretty relaxed out there to tell you the truth, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be tough. You know, there’s going to be guys that will come out of the blocks shooting probably lights out right away, and I’m going to have to continue to do what I’ve been doing the first three days.”

On the possibility of his three-peat?

“It would mean a lot,” he said. “I haven’t really given it much thought, but it would mean a lot.”

For a complete leaderboard and full press conference transcripts, visit PGATour.com.