Tiny Tim Beats Big Boys At Players

0 0 GolfCentralDaily May 10, 2010 Edit this post

Mike McAllister of PGAtour.com reports on Tim Clark’s breakthrough victory at the Players Championship in Sawgrass. “ As he stood ov...

Mike McAllister of PGAtour.com reports on Tim Clark’s breakthrough victory at the Players Championship in Sawgrass.

“As he stood over his par putt on the 18th green at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday, his Srixon Z-Star ball 7 feet, 9 inches away from the pin, his long putter firmly tucked against his chest, his heart pounding and his nerves dancing, Tim Clark did his best to suppress the enormity of the situation.

While there was no guarantee this would be the putt to finally give him, in his 206th PGA TOUR start, that long-awaited first win, the South African knew. He knew this was a putt that could ultimately seal THE PLAYERS Championship. He knew this was a putt that could put to rest -- finally -- all those questions about whether he was made of championship material or was simply the perennial runner-up, the best player on TOUR without a victory, the feisty lovable undersized "pit bull," as Greg Norman called him last year at the Presidents Cup.

He knew that all the times he had battled self-doubt, feeling he didn't belong with the big boys, could very well be wiped away with this putt.

Clark knew all this, he knew that his closest pursuers were still more than 30 minutes away from finishing and that he would have to sweat out the possible career-changing moment. He knew this putt was huge ... and he knew he couldn't think about any of that.

Clark had to stay in the moment. Focus on the task at hand. Concentrate on the crispy patch of Bermuda grass between his ball and the pin, and think of nothing else.

He had been burned before when thinking about the big picture while standing over a huge putt. In fact, it had happened less than a year ago at Colonial when he failed to knock down the big putt, giving away a tournament that was his to win.

Now he wanted to think small in order to get the big payoff.

"I just trusted myself and just tried to get into that shot and hit that shot as best as I could," Clark said.

He couldn't have hit it any better, nailing the putt, then going into waiting mode. Beyond a slight fist pump, the feisty Clark didn't dare allow himself to celebrate. Finishing at 16 under after posting the day's best round, a bogey-free 5-under 67, he looked at the leaderboard and saw that Robert Allenby and Lee Westwood were breathing down his neck. With the possibility of a playoff looming, he eventually went to the range to stay warm.

But after Clark had taken care of himself with the clutch putt, the golf gods took care of the rest. For once, they were on his side.

Westwood faded when his tee shot on 17 landed in the water. He was done. No PLAYERS champion has ever hit in the water on the island green in the final round. The third-round leader wound up with double bogey and would leave TPC Sawgrass just like he did a month ago at Augusta National, wondering why the Sunday demons continue to haunt him in golf's biggest events.

A few minutes later, Allenby suffered a fate that was more cruel. His 9-iron off the tee was beautifully struck, and when the ball was in the air, Allenby figured it would land a foot or so from the pin for a tap-in birdie. At 15 under at the time, he sensed that this was the shot that would give him a share of the lead. "I thought it was just perfect," he said.

But the ball checked up quicker than he anticipated. Still, he was left with an 11-foot putt for birdie to tie. With the par-4 18th playing as the hardest hole on the course this week, Allenby knew this was his best chance to birdie and force a playoff.

Golf gods show up in the most mysterious places, though. For Allenby, it was a spike mark just on the edge of the cup. His putt was on line, the ball heading to the hole, when it reached the spike mark ... and actually backed up an inch or two. Imagine the horror? Allenby was actually living it.

"That was a bit rude," he said, drawing laughter from his pain. "Obviously, the golfing gods were with Tim today. I can accept that."

Not that it wasn't hard to swallow for the Australian.

While much has been made of Clark's 0-for-205 streak before Sunday, Allenby's winless streak on the PGA TOUR has been even longer -- 223 starts since his 2001 win at the Marconi Pennsylvania Classic. Is tasting success and then not getting another sip of it for nine years worse than having not tasted it at all?

For Allenby, it is.

His next win, though, is not about ending streaks. It's about a dedication to his mother Sylvia, who died in January, 2009, of lung and kidney cancer.

Allenby wore pink on Sunday in her memory. On Mother's Day, a victory from a loving son to his deceased mother would have put all of TPC Sawgrass in tears. Allenby himself has a hard time discussing it whenever asked. He usually has to steady himself and choke back the emotions.

"Obviously, it's tough," he said. "It's just one of those things ... well, that's why I wear the pink shirt."

Allenby did all he could do, played his best, had nothing left to give and nothing to be ashamed of. He came within a spike mark from forcing a playoff. His mom would be proud.

In the battle of the long-sufferers, though, the day belonged to Clark. He made the putt that counted, hit the biggest shots, had the lowest round. He had the golf gods looking out for him. And he had the nice advantage of playing a few groups ahead of the last one.

At THE PLAYERS, that seems to make a huge difference, not only in handling the nerves but also in the condition of the course. With each passing minute, TPC Sawgrass gets tougher. Had Allenby been playing 30 minutes earlier, for instance, perhaps that spike mark in front of the cup at 17 isn't even there.

"Probably a blessing that I wasn't in one of the last groups," Clark acknowledged.

In the end, though, perhaps this was nothing more than Clark being due. He's shown in match-play competition that he's as gritty and feisty as they come. He beat Tiger Woods last year at Dove Mountain. He was arguably Norman's best player at Harding Park last fall. He doesn't back down.

And on Sunday, he played like a champion, stayed within himself and handled the pressure by putting it in the appropriate context.

"He looked like he was playing out there on Tuesday," said playing partner Charley Hoffman, "Didn't look like a Sunday PLAYERS Championship round, for sure."

Big performances on Tuesday get you nothing on the PGA TOUR, though. It's the big performances on Sunday that can change lives and change perceptions. After 206 starts, Tim Clark finally gets to realize what it means.”