The Hollywood sign may have been looming in the distance, but the Northern Trust Open was short on drama. The world’s No. 2 player saw to that.

Steve Stricker completed his meteoric rise from No. 337 in the World Golf Rankings all the way to No. 2, winning for the eighth time in a riches-to-rags-to-riches career that would make for a cliched movie script if it weren’t real life. Stricker built a six-shot lead and held on for a two-shot win over Luke Donald, closing with a 1-under 70 that represented a defensive but effective brand of golf that gave Stricker his fourth win in his last 15 Tour starts.

“I just knew it was going to be hard,” Stricker said. “You’re playing a different game than what you normally play. You play scared -- at least I did for a while.”

So, instead of threatening the tournament’s 25-year-old scoring record, Stricker had to settle for vaulting past Phil Mickelson into the No. 2 spot in the rankings and taking the early lead in the FedExCup points race.

After some tentative play had cost him much of his lead, Stricker used the trustiest stick in his bag, his putter, to clinch the win. A poor chip shot on 15 left him looking at a 10-footer for par, which he calmly drained to end the suspense.

“My father-in-law always says there's a defining moment when you're going to win a golf tournament,” Stricker said. “And I think that was it right there. It allowed me to keep a three-shot lead going into the last three holes.”

Climbing the Charts

Stricker’s surge into second place in the world is truly remarkable stuff considering the state of his game in 2005, when he lost his card, failed to regain it in Q-school and was a man without a Tour.

Stricker knew he could get his game back, even if he didn’t attach a specific ranking number to his aspirations. “I never really set that goal when I was 337th,” he said. “But I did set goals to win again and just to work harder at my game, and to be in this position now is truly unbelievable. I would have never have dreamt -- I think if I would have set this goal back about six years ago, if I would have told anybody they would have said you're crazy. But I put a lot of hard work into it. You know, it just means a lot.”

So does he have designs on the top spot? Hey, he’s playing well, but he’s a realist, too.

“We all know who the best player in the world is, and I went down that road when he came out on Tour,” Stricker said of Tiger Woods. “I tried to compare my game to his back in '96 or '97, I guess, and … there was no comparison for my game to his back then. You know, he does what he does, and I do the things that I do, and that's what I've gotten down to is I just try to do what I'm good at, and that's sometimes not the flashiest thing in the world. It may be grinding it out, making putts or getting it up-and-down, but it's my way, it's my style, I guess.

“But no, I mean, we all know who the best player in the world is, and I'll just continue to do what I do, and that's practice hard and work at it and try to improve. I'm not saying that I'm going to just not try to work at it anymore, but just continue to do the things that I do when I'm trying to -- and that's to try to get better. That's all I can ask.”

For now, that’s more than enough.

Melting for Maltbie

Stricker is known for his emotional reactions to his victories, and the 2010 Northern Trust was no exception. Stricker’s post-round encounter with Roger Maltbie was typically verklempt, although he was able to joke about it later.

“That's a common thread for me,” Stricker said of his waterworks. “I tell myself every time I'm not going to cry, and maybe it's seeing Roger that makes me cry.

“I don't know, it means a lot. I work hard at this, and when it finally -- you pour everything into it for 72 holes, and there's a lot of emotions through the course of the round, and I typically don't show any emotion. So I think it's just the ending of it all and finally coming out on top that I lose it.”

Jerry’s Tournament

The event’s LA setting and star-studded history haven’t prevented the Northern Trust Open from fading just a bit in importance and prestige. But the presence of The Logo can only help. Laker legend Jerry West is the tournament’s executive director, and his presence lends an added measure of gravitas.

“Obviously I know who Jerry West is, and I've run across his path a couple other times prior to this week, and he's always been an outstanding gentleman, and we're very fortunate to have him as our executive director here for the Northern Trust tournament,” Stricker said. “He's only going to add credibility, and his involvement means a lot, not only to the Tour but to the area. Like I said, it can't be any better than having Jerry West here as part of this tournament.”

This and That

• Had Stricker squandered his six-shot lead entering the final round, he would have become only the sixth player in PGA Tour history to have done so. The last two are pretty notable -- Sergio Garcia at the 2005 Wachovia, and Greg Norman at the 1996 Masters.

• Prior to Sunday’s final-round 70, Stricker had shot eight consecutive rounds in the 60s. He ranks first with a scoring average of 67.67.

• Appropriately enough, given the outcome of the Super Bowl, the Big Easy had a solid weekend. With his T10 finish, Ernie Els now has four consecutive finishes in the top 12 dating back to last year’s Tour Championship.

• J.B. Holmes was the only player in the field to shoot four rounds in the 60s (68-69-67-67). He finished T3, three shots behind Stricker.

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