PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Matt Kuchar stopped practicing for a playoff and walked over to the 18th green to watch with thousands of other spectators, planning to congratulate Martin Laird on the victory. A short time later, the celebration was for Kuchar.

His fortunes took quite a turn Sunday at The Barclays.

So did his golf ball.

Kuchar gave the FedEx Cup playoffs a memorable start with a 7-iron out of the rough that sent his ball toward the back of the green, where it caught enough of the slope to turn sharply to the left and roll to within 30 inches of the hole for a birdie.

“The shot came out beautifully,” he said. “I ran it up to that back right bank and saw the crowd just all of a sudden … like a wave of people standing and cheering. I knew it was getting good. That was an exciting way to cap off this tournament.”

Five shots behind to start the final round, Kuchar closed with a 5-under 66 and got into a playoff when Laird three-putted for bogey from just inside 25 feet on the final hole.