Stricker wins Crowne Plaza, keeps Clark streak going at 184

Mike Dudurich

Posted 2009-06-01

So what do we take from Steve Stricker’s playoff victory Sunday in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club?

Well, for starters, it’s hard winning out there on the PGA Tour. Ask Tim Clark, the South African who came within an approach shot rattling off the flagstick of breaking an 0-for-183 winless streak.

Do you think Clark is any good?

His second-place finish was the seventh of his career and he now has finishes of second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh this year.

Clark was the most accurate driver in the tournament until two late tee shots got him in trouble.

He earned $545,600, giving him a career total of almost $13.3 million. But still no win.

“Bad break or not, the tournament should have ended on the first playoff hole,” Clark said. “I didn’t make a confident stroke and I pulled it. I can’t take anything positive from today. I have a lot of work to do when it comes to closing out golf tournaments.”

Clark had more than just the one bad break that led to his blowing a two-shot lead with five holes left.

He left short a 9-foot putt that would’ve won it on the final hole, then pulled a 4-footer that would’ve ended the playoff on the first hole. And then that approach shot on the second extra hole that caromed off the stick and stopped more than 20 feet away.

Steve Marino was also looking for his first win, one that would have been sweet with him mom growing up just a few blocks from Colonial Country Club. She was in the gallery as her son shot a 68 Sunday to tie Clark at 17-under.

He missed a long birdie putt on the first extra hole and then hit a wild tee shot on the second hole that took him out of it.

“Obviously it’s disappointing,” Marino said. “But I’m playing well right now and I’m excited about playing golf and feel good about my game.”

On this day, it was Stricker’s turn to not be disappointed. Despite some shaky play of his own down the stretch, the Wisconsin native played well enough to register his fifth career victory and vaulted to the eighth spot in the world rankings.

He made a bad bogey on the par 3 16th, missing a four-foot par putt, something that goes against the strength of his game. And it looked like he followed one bad result with another when he blew his approach shot on the 17th over the green. But a miraculous chip shot found the cup for a birdie to get him into the playoff.

“I feel fortunate,” Stricker said. “I’ve been on the other end a couple times this year where you feel you’re going to win and end up losing. This feels very good. You need breaks to win, that’s why winning is so special, so hard to do.”

Now he has five career wins – and the No. 8 spot in the world ranking.

Thanks to Clark’s miss on the first playoff hole, Stricker was still in the hunt on the second and celebrated by firing an approach to a mere three feet. After the other two missed, Stricker calmly made the winning putt.

“This is what my whole career has been about. I’ve had to pull myself up when something hasn’t gone my way,” Stricker said. “You have to let it roll off your back.”

Among the things on Stricker’s resume is the fact that he was named the PGA Tour’s Comeback Player of the Year in back-to-back years, 2006 and 2007.

It was obviously a great week for Stricker, who put together a pair of 63s to get the week started, a 36-hole tournament record, by the way. He won $1,116,000, but felt the same tension as his playing partners.

"It’s always tense, coming down to the stretch, the final few holes of a tournament when you are in contention," he said. "Sometimes we take for granted what Tiger has done or what Phil has done. They make it look fairly simple at times. I can remember trying to win my first event and I could relate to what Tim was trying to do today. It’s just a hard thing to do.”

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About Mike...
As a sports writer for over 35 years, Mike Dudurich has seen a lot of great things, covered spectacular events, but his passion is, and has been golf. He recently ended a 29-year career at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and will now be a frequent contributor on GolfGearReview.com. Mike hosts a weekly golf radio show on 1250 ESPN in Pittsburgh from the beginning of April through the end of August. The show airs Saturdays from 8-9 a.m. and can be heard online at http://stations.espn.go.com/stations/espnradio1250/show?showId=insidepghgolf - Listen to Mike Here!.

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