Mark Wilson wins Sony Open

United States’ Mark Wilson best handled the final 36-holes of the Sony Open at Waialee, Hawaii to capture only his third PGA Tour title, with a closing 67 to win by two shots from South African Tim Clark.

Wilson had carded a third round 65 on Sunday morning to take a one shot lead into the final round, and had to go out on his final round with just six minutes in between.

However, the lack of a break seemed to ensure Wilson kept his rythym and his closing 67 was bogey-free – meaning he had played the last 36 holes without a blemish on his card and it was enough to earn a return to Augusta for the US Masters. Wilson’s last visit to Augusta was back in 2001, but only as a spectator. In all, Wilson had played 40 consecutive holes without a dropped shot.

Wilson had to sweat on the win, however, as both Tim Clark and Steve Marino came with late charges to threaten Wilson’s lead. The first challenge came from Players Champion Tim Clark, who after starting his day six off the pace, shot 66-64 to heap pressure on Wilson, who was still out on the course and playing alongside Marino, after closing with a 14-under par total.

Marino found a bunker on 18 from the tee, but his ball kicked out of the sand onto the side of a hill. Needing an eagle, Marino played a remarkable second shot. With his feet still in sand, and the ball around chest-height, Marino lashed a fairway metal wood at the ball and watched it sail onto the front edge of the green, 40 feet away to set up an eagle opportunity.

Wilson’s second shot missed the green, but he pitched to four feet and with Marino’s eagle putt missing out on the hole, Wilson made birdie to seal the victory.

“I saw the ball, and I thought, ‘OK, eagle is going to be pretty tough for him to make.’ It was one incredible shot,” Wilson said, when asked about Marino’s improbable recovery.

“It’s a relief to get it in. I’m just thrilled to be the champion.” he added.

Tipster picks Steve Stricker and Ernie Els were left to fly the flag after Carl Pettersson missed the cut, but neither player could get in a blow at the leaders. Stricker finished 68-66 to finish on 10-under par and a share of 9th place, while Ernie Els shot 67-74 to slip to a tie for 42nd place.

Clark and Wilson share Canadian Open lead

After play was delayed two hours due to weather, it was relative unknown Dean Wilson who set the pace at the RBC Canadian Open with a second successive round of 65 to take a one-shot lead over overnight leader, Brent Delahoussaye and Steve Wheatcroft.

Players Championship winner, South African Tim Clark who went one better with a round of 64, joined Wilson on the 10-under par mark while Delahoussaye carded a 69, and Wheatcroft a round of 66.

A lot of unfamiliar names appear on the leaderboard for the tournament, with perhaps Clark, and Americans JJ Henry and Hunter Mahan the most well known among the top 20 positions on the board. Henry ties for fifth place alongside Mahan after the pair finished together on 8-under par, just two shots off the pace. Also tied on the mark are unknowns Rob Grube and Brock Mackenzie, who ply their trade on the Canadian circuit.

Wilson is playing in only his ninth tournament of the 2010 season and has missed his last three cuts. He is making his seventh appearance in the Canadian Open where his record in this event is average, with a best placed T14 in 2004 his highest finish in the tournament. Wilson has won one event on the PGA Tour – the International in Denver, Colorado in 2006.

Home favourite, left-hander Mike Weir bowed out of the tournament following a second round 74 for a six-over par total 146. Weir, who had carried the hopes of the nation in becoming the first home-grown winner of the event since Pat Fletcher in 1954 has been largely struggling of late with a loss-of-form and tendonitis in his elbow which has seen the diminutive Canadian miss three of his last four cuts.

Daniel Chopra of Sweden is the highest-placed European representative in the field; the Swede carding a second round 69 to move to 6-under par, and into a tie for 14th while Luke Donald is the highest placed Briton on the leaderboard after a round of 66 saw the European Tour winner finish on 5-under par.

Paul Casey, who went into the final round of last week’s Open Championship at St. Andrews in second place struggled to a 73 to miss the cut whilst Brian Davis and American Robert Garrigus both withdrew prior to starting their second round.

Tim Clark wins Players Championship as Westwood falters

Lee Westwood faltered once again when it mattered most during the final round and surrendered the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass to South African player Tim Clark. Westwood had started the day one shot in front of Australian Robert Allenby but not for the first time he failed to make the most of his lead.

At the US Masters, Westwood led for much of the final round before being overhauled by Phil Mickelson and last year squandered good chances to win the US PGA Championship and the Open Championship.

As Tim Clark – winless on the PGA Tour in more than 200 events – put the seal on a closing 67 to set the target at 16-under par, Westwood arrived on the short 17th hole requiring a birdie-birdie finish to force a playoff. The Worksop golfer was tied with Clark going into his final nine holes as Clark racked up a sequence of four successive birdies from the turn, and with Allenby just a stroke behind the pressure was on for Westwood to deliver.

However, following a poor approach to the par-5 16th hole which cost him a birdie might still have weighed on Westwood’s mind as he fired his tee-shot on the short 17th into the lake enroute to a double-bogey. That left Allenby as Clark’s sole challenger. Allenby had found the 17th green but his birdie attempt came up just inches short of the hole and par was the score Allenby took to the final hole.

For Clark it would be a tense few moments, but Allenby’s second shot to the 18th hole drifted right of the green and the Australian could only get up-and-down for par to hand victory to the South African.

Tiger Woods, well down the field, withdrew from the tournament on the seventh hole of his final round with a neck injury. Woods’ condition – a bulging disc – was mis-quoted live on air by TV anchorwoman Win McMurray, who described the world number one’s ailment as a ‘bulging d**k’.

Clark’s win lifted the South African to 20th place in the world rankings and was accompanied by a $1.71million cheque, while Allenby took second place, one shot behind.

US Open champion Lucas Glover closed with three successive birdies to take third place on 14-under while Westwood eventually finished tied-4th with Davis Love III, Heath Slocum and Bo Van Pelt.

Of the tipster selections, Phil Mickelson fared best of the trio; finishing with a 7-under par total while former champion Stephen Ames endured a torrid weekend with rounds of 79 and 71 to close dropping the Canadian from contention to a closing 3-over par total. Meanwhile, poor Padraig Harrington sat out the weekend, having missed the cut.

Tim Clark ends Tiger’s Comeback at WGC-Accenture

Tiger Woods proved he is human – or at the very least, merely a little rusty – after crashing out of the WGC-Accenture Match PlayChampionship in Arizona.

Woods, who had been using the tournament as his comeback event following an eight-month layoff after knee surgery was defeated 4&2 by South African Tim Clark, who brought an abrupt end to Woods’ first competitive event since June 2008 in the second round of the event.

Woods had taken an advantage in the match as early as the second hole, where he made a birdie, which he relinquished on the fifth to a birdie from Clark before the South African nosed in front on the par three sixth despite finding the rough after Woods, from the tee, plugged his ball in the bunker and eventually missing a putt for par.

Woods then squared the match on the seventh, and it remained all-square until Clark carded three straight birdies from the 11th to grab a 3-hole lead with five to play.

Woods holed from a greenside bunker on the 14th to pull one back, before driving out of bounds on the 15th and failing to make par which restored Clark’s 3 hole cushion. The match ended on the 16th green when the South African birdied the par three hole to give Woods no way back.

With Woods’ demise, it meant that none of the top-four seeds for the tournament made it past the second round after the elimination of Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington on Wednesday, and Vijay Singh on Thursday.

Woods however wasn’t too despondent about his shock exit. After the match, Woods said:

“I hit one bad eight iron and one bad drive so I’m happy with the way I was striking the ball,” he said.

“Tim is a wonderful player and he made birdies while I didn’t sink enough putts. I feel great, though, and I will go home to evaluate what to do next.”

South African Clark, who is ranked 17 in the world, will now play Irish sensation Rory McIlroy in the third round for a place in the quarter-final. McIlroy, who is playing in his first tournament on US soil as a professional, defeated US Ryder Cup star Hunter Mahan 1-up after being 2-down in his match.

(Image via Wikipedia)