PARAMUS, N.J. – Tiger Woods isn’t sure how he came to be pals with Bryson DeChambeau, who cruised to a four-shot victory over Tony Finau (68) with a final-round 69 at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Ridgewood Country Club on Sunday.

Perhaps the relationship was fated: one guy (Woods) who is unrivaled in his understanding of the game, and the other (DeChambeau) who is bound and determined to explain its every nuance in terms that evoke Bill Nye the Science Guy.

“I don’t know,” said Woods (70, T40). “That’s kind of one of the weird ones, yeah. It kind of just happened. It just kind of evolved.”

No one came closer than two shots of the winner as DeChambeau controlled his game and his emotions all day, starting with two straight birdies.

Billy Horschel (68) and Cameron Smith (69) tied for third, five back.

The golf world is still scratching its collective head as it gets to know the quirky DeChambeau, who won the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide earlier this season, and whose second victory of the summer, worth 2000 points, lands him at No. 1 in the FedExCup Playoffs.

The winner brought a four-shot lead into the final round, saw it cut to two by surging rookie Aaron Wise (67), then steadied himself with birdies at 12 and 13 and sailed home from there.

DeChambeau, who likely assured himself a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, is still just 24, so we don’t have all the answers. We know he’s different. (Single-length shafts in his irons, single-plane swing.) He’s good. (Three TOUR wins by 24 make him one of the most promising young players in America, and the world.) And that his success has not kind of just happened. (He spends more time on the range than most caged tractors.)

Most of all, we know he cares. A lot.

“Well, Bryson, you know … he’s very fiery,” Woods said. “We all know he’s extremely intelligent, but his heart, he gives it everything he has and is always trying to get better.”

DeChambeau has made his reputation as a numbers-cruncher and science-lover who revels in the physics of the game. He is constantly talking about biomechanics, among other multi-syllabic science words, but he’s not above poking a little fun at himself.

“I like the guy,” said Kevin Na. “If I’m playing with him, I always make sure I have a question for him to stir up his brain and see if he has the answers. Like, we were doing an MGM outing at Shadow Creek and I asked him a question about green slope. I always poke him a little, see if he’s got the answers and is as smart as he says he is. He’s a great guy, and I’m happy for him.”

Ditto for Woods. As for their friendship, DeChambeau said he was drawn to the 14-time major winner’s excellence.

“How good he is,” DeChambeau said of what he’s learned from the 79-time PGA TOUR winner. “I mean, I never realized the immense talent he has in regards to the feel in his hands and his ability to control the golf ball and do things that I’ve never seen before. … It’s definitely helped this year.”

But do they speak the same language?

“At times,” DeChambeau said. “And at times he tells me to shut up and hit the ball. It is what it is. (Laughing). It’s fun. I like to joke with him a little bit. It’s been great.”

DeChambeau was Tiger-like in his dissection of Ridgewood, finishing T27 in driving accuracy, 12th in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green, and fifth in Strokes Gained: Putting (+6.962).

“I feel a lot of the things that he says,” Woods said, “but we articulate it completely differently. But I understand what he’s saying. … It’s a lot of fun to needle him and give him a hard time about it, but I definitely respect what he says because of the fact that he does a lot of research. I mean, he is very into what he’s doing.”