GREENSBORO - After Carl Pettersson brushed in the final stroke of his victory in the Wyndham Championship Sunday afternoon at Sedgefield Country Club, he was met on the 18th green by his wife, DeAnna, and their two children for a group hug.

It provided a fitting end to a transformative week for both him and the event.

Given Pettersson's ties to Greensboro and the tournament, his four-stroke victory over Scott McCarron seemed almost assured once he topped the leader board after a second-round 61 on Friday. But it wasn't as easy as the final margin made it appear.

Pettersson was in danger of falling three strokes behind on the 12th green Sunday; but a critical par-save there, followed by three birdies in a four-hole stretch, secured his third career PGA Tour victory with a 21-under-par 259 total.

However, in a cold-hearted game, there was a sentimental aspect to Pettersson's victory.

"I'm over the moon," he said late Sunday afternoon. His smile showed it.

Born in Sweden, Pettersson moved with his family from England to Greensboro 15 years ago. Shortly thereafter, N.C. State golf coach Richard Sykes noticed the stocky blond from Grimsley High while scouting another golfer, offered him a spot with the Wolfpack and Pettersson now calls Raleigh home.

Sykes and another former Wolfpacker, Tour player Tim Clark, were waiting behind the 18th green to congratulate Pettersson after his first victory since the 2006 Memorial.

It was Pettersson who counseled Greensboro officials as they mulled moving the tournament from Forest Oaks to Sedgefield this year. The switch produced noticeably larger galleries and more energy than in recent years at Forest Oaks.

The move seemed almost self-serving, given the way Pettersson manhandled the Donald Ross course.

In fact, Pettersson had played Sedgefield only once prior to this week. The course doesn't demand length, and Pettersson immediately liked the look of the layout. The positive vibes produced 25 birdies and two eagles in 72 holes.

"When he's been at the top with a chance, he usually wins," Sykes said. "Somebody has to outplay him to beat him."

It looked for much of the overcast Sunday that McCarron might do that. They traded the lead on the front nine and McCarron, leading by one, was poised to take command at the par-3 12th. But Pettersson holed a 13-foot par putt, then watched McCarron three-putt from nine feet. Suddenly what could have been a three-stroke deficit was a dead heat.

"I felt I was letting the tournament slip away at 10 and 11 [with bogeys]," Pettersson said. "I made a nice positive stroke at 12, and that was the turning point."

McCarron felt the body blow.

"I kind of let it go at 12," said McCarron, whose second-place finish secured his tour privileges through the 2009 season after he missed last year with an elbow injury. "[But] Carl played really well down the stretch."

Pettersson, who made the commute from his Raleigh home to Sedgefield almost daily, played himself into contention for a spot on the European Ryder Cup team as well as enhancing his position in the FedEx Cup playoffs that begin this week.

"The whole week has been fantastic," Pettersson said. "I kept telling myself I could do it."

Like the scene of Pettersson's family on Sedgefield 18th green, it felt almost picture perfect.

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