Tim Clark finally got the monkey off his back when he won for the first time on the PGA Tour – and he did so in style, by beating the best field in golf at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
Clark played the final 26 holes without a bogey and made an eight-foot par putt on the final hole for a five-under-par 67 to win The Players Championship with a record 36-hole comeback. ‘I did all I could there,’ said the 34-year-old South African. ‘That’s as good as I could have played.’
Clark, who was seven shots behind going into the weekend, made four consecutive birdies around the turn to take the lead, and no one could catch him. Robert Allenby had the best chance, but an 18-foot eagle putt on the 16th and a 12-foot birdie try on the island-green 17th came within a fraction of an inch from going in.
Clark became only the second player to make The Players Championship his first PGA Tour victory. He had gone more than eight years and 204 tournaments with nothing more to show than eight runner-up finishes.
Tiger Woods managed to create a buzz without even being there for most of the day as he withdrew on the 7th because of a neck injury.
A win for Phil Mickelson would have moved him to No 1 in the world, but the Masters champion bogeyed three of his opening six holes and closed with a 74 to finish tie-17th.
Clark was three shots behind until he sunk an 18-foot birdie putt on the par-five 9th and took that momentum to the back nine. First came a six-foot birdie putt on the 10th, then a tough shot out of the back bunker to five feet for birdie on the par-five 11th.
He made it four straight birdies with an 18-foot putt on the 12th to take the lead.
Then came a series of pars, none bigger than the eight-foot putt on the 18th while holding a two-shot lead over Allenby and Lee Westwood, who were three holes behind him on the course. Clark gritted his teeth and slammed his fist in celebration. He finished at 16-under 272 and earned $1.71-million.
‘You wouldn’t find one guy in the locker room who wouldn’t say he was going to win soon, and he deserves it,’ said Lucas Glover, who shot a 31 on the back nine and finished third.
LEADERBOARD
Tim Clark (SA) 68 71 66 67 272
Robert Allenby (Aus) 66 70 67 70 273
Lucas Glover (US) 70 65 69 70 274
Ben Crane (US) 67 69 68 72 276, Heath Slocum (US) 67 66 72 71 276, Bo Van Pelt (US) 68 69 69 70 276, Davis Love III (US)
69 68 71 68 276, Lee Westwood (Eng) 67 65 70 74 276
Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 65 71 73 277
Andres Romero (Arg) 69 70 69 71 279, Chris Stroud (US) 70 69 66 74 279, Freddie Jacobsen (Swe) 69 70 69 71 279
– This article first appeared in the May issue of Compleat Golfer, now on sale
