Clark triumphant, Woods walks at Players
South Africa's perennial nearly man Tim Clark finally collected his first win on the PGA Tour at the Players Championship yesterday, after 12 years of trying that had encompassed some 205 events.
The 34-year-old Clark clinched victory at TPC Sawgrass in Florida with a flawless five-under 67 to finish 16-under in total, one stroke better than the second-placed Robert Allenby.
Allenby had hit an eagle on the 2nd to bring himself to the fore early on, but a rash of bogeys cancelled out much of the Australian's good work and he finished two-under on the day.
Lucas Glover was a stroke further back, carding four bogeys in five holes on the front nine before rediscovering his touch on the back nine to collect five birdies.
And Lee Westwood was among those tied for fourth place. Westwood had led going into the final day, but the Englishman's play was, by his own admission, "rubbish" at times on Sunday. Two birdies, two bogeys and a double on the infamous 17th doing for the 36-year-old's chances of landing his first victory on the PGA Tour in 12 years.
But if Westwood's dirty dozen has no end in sight, at least Clark finally shook off his own 12 years of bad luck. "Part of me is a bit disappointed because now no-one is going to talk about me anymore," Clark joked. "At least you had something to write about before. Now I'm just another guy with a win."
The player was clearly delighted to land his first win, admitting: "I did all I could there. That's as good as I could have played."
With a record of eight second places there were those who wondered if Clark would ever claim a victory, and he certainly looked an unlikely winner here. Before the tournament began, the topic du jour had centred on the possibility that Phil Mickelson could take victory and thus wrestle the No.1 spot away from Tiger Woods.
Indeed, Mickelson had got himself into contention on Saturday after seven birdies and just one bogey, but the 39-year-old disappointed yesterday with three birdies and six bogeys. That left him on two-over on the day, seven-under in total, and tied for 17th place.
Mickelson's inability to seize the day must have been frustrating for the Californian, as Woods had left the way clear on Sunday after pulling out in the middle of the 7th with a neck injury - only the second time in Woods' professional career that he had withdrawn from a tournament.
Woods quit the 2006 Nissan Open after succumbing to a bout of flu; this time it was neck spasms that ended Woods round prematurely. How that will affect the 34-year-old's immediate plans remains unclear; Woods' next scheduled tournament is currently the US Open, which takes place between June 17th and 20th.
The golfer was in no mood to make chit-chat with the media following his exit. Appearing only for the briefest of question and answer sessions about his withdrawal, Woods began the session in blistering form, answering the question "what happened?" with the priceless explanation: "I withdrew."
Woods did go on to reveal that he planned to "get an MRI this week because I might have a bulging disc in my upper back." He also said he'd been suffering with a sore neck since before the Masters - the first we've heard of it, though surely not the first pain in the neck the 14-time major winner has experienced in recent months.
Elsewhere, Sweden's Fredrik Andersson Hed faltered towards his first victory on the European Tour at the Italian Open, a six stroke lead at the start of play eventually whittled down to two strokes as the Swede beat England's David Horsey by two strokes.
Italian Matteo Manassero was also present, playing his first tournament as a professional; the teenager finished tied for 29th spot after carding 71 on the last day. That may be a disappointing performance from the 17-year-old who tied for 13th place at last year's Open, but Manassero is just getting started. Let's hope it doesn't take him 12 years to bag that first win.
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