The Daily Wrap-up: Round 4, Crowne Plaza Invitational
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Steve Stricker lost a final-round lead right after he took it and gave away another stroke by missing a short par putt down the stretch.
Stricker stayed at it, though. A chip-in birdie on No. 17 helped him get in a three-man playoff. Then, lucky to be playing a second extra hole, he put his approach just 3 feet from the cup and knocked it right in to win the Crowne Plaza Invitational. The victory moved him to second in the FedExCup standings.
Admirable as Stricker's victory was, the real story Sunday may be how Tim Clark lost the tournament.
Trying to shed his title as the guy who'd won the most money on the PGA TOUR without winning an event, Clark wasted 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 7-footer that would've ended the playoff on the first hole. The final kick in the gut came when his approach on the second extra hole hit the pin and rolled more than 20 feet from the cup.
"I can't take anything positive from today," the 33-year-old South African said. "I have a lot of work to do when it comes to closing out golf tournaments."
Stricker's victory was pure relief, as evidence by his fist pump and choked-up interviews afterward. It's not that he questioned his ability to close out tournaments, he was just ready to win after finishing second, third, fourth, sixth and seventh this year.
Now he has five career wins -- and the No. 8 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking.
"I feel fortunate," Stricker said, wearing the plaid jacket given to all winners at Colonial Country Club. "I've been on the other end a couple times this year where you feel going to win and end up losing. This feels very good."
Stricker, who earned $1,116,000, led after two rounds with a 36-hole tournament record of 126. He moved back ahead with birdies on Nos. 5 and 6 on Sunday, then followed with consecutive bogeys.
When he missed a 4-footer on No. 16, Stricker seemed out of contention. His chances looked even worse when he was in fluffy grass behind the 17th green.
Then his chip rolled in.
"You need breaks to win, that's why winning is so special, so hard to do," he said.
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Steve Marino was the third player in the playoff. He narrowly missed a long birdie putt on the first extra hole, then took himself out of contention with a wild tee shot on the second extra hole. Colonial would've been a sweet place for his debut win considering his mom grew up a few blocks away and was in the gallery with a group of her childhood friends.
"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."
Stricker and Marino shot 68s to match Clark (70) at 17-under 263.
Jason Day, a 21-year-old Australian who recently became a Colonial member, shot 69 and finished fourth at 264. He shot 65 in the other three rounds, but started with a bogey and wound up a stroke out of the playoff.
Another stroke back was Paul Casey, coming off a prestigious win in Europe that vaulted him to No. 3 in the world ranking. He opened the final round with three straight birdies but couldn't build on it much.
Woody Austin (68) and Vijay Singh (69) tied for sixth at 14 under.
Clark's foibles on the 18th hole -- in regulation, then in the playoffs -- sent the playoff to No. 17, a hole Stricker already had birdied three times in four rounds.
His fourth birdie there was the charm.
"This is what my whole career has been about up. 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."
Maybe one day, Clark can. Not now.
Not after being tied for the tournament record with five holes to play. Not after being the tournament's most accurate driver to that point and then knocking two tee shots into trouble.
Not after all those foul-ups turned 0-for-183 into 0-for-184 and the seventh second-place finish of his career. The last one came last year at this event, when Phil Mickelson made a spectacular shot for birdie on the final hole.
Not even being reminded of his valiant final approach could lift his spirits.
"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."
The $545,600 in winnings, which upped his career total to almost $13.3 million, would be a mood-lifter.
But considering his unwanted claim to fame, that's both good and bad.
| Other notables at the Crowne Plaza Invitational | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sunday's Best |
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The 565-yard par-5 first hole was easiest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.473.
The 430-yard par-4 15th hole was toughest with a Sunday scoring average of 4.176.
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Steve Stricker hit his tee shot on the par-3 17th hole to within inches of the pin, then sank his birdie putt to win on the second extra hole. 
Brian Gay carded a 6-under 64 to move into a tie for 27th. His stellar Sunday also moved him into the top 10 of the FedExCup standings. INSIDE THE ROPES WITH THE PGA TOUR NETWORK
PGA TOUR Network correspondent Bob Stevens offers these observations from Sunday's action. Listen to PGA TOUR Live coverage on XM 146/SIRIUS 209 or right here at PGATOUR.COM.
How great is Steve Stricker, the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial champion? Following his disappointing 69 on Saturday, he signed golf balls -- as most players usually do -- for the walking scorer and the standard bearer. What made Stricker's act special was that he did it immediately after walking off the green, while he still looked dejected by his play. Most players go and sign their scorecards first, then sometimes have their caddies deliver the signed balls outside the scoring area. Not Stricker, who expressed his thanks immediately after shaking hands with his fellow competitors. This morning, while my colleague Matt Adams was conducting a pre-round interview with him, Stricker actually suggested that they move away from a blower to a quieter place so there wouldn't be any interference with the interview. He's always thinking of everyone else -- the competitive fire is only on display inside the ropes.
How good is Paul Casey? He flew across the Atlantic to Fort Worth soon after winning at Wentworth on the European Tour last week, which was beyond difficult. Once Casey arrived in Texas and got a decent night's sleep, he told me that he didn't want to use the easy alibi of the long travel to just go through the motions. Though he was seeing the course for the very first time, the third-ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings proved he belonged in that spot with three 66s and a 67 to miss the playoff by two shots. He said that Colonial was everything he'd heard about and more, and he even got into the caddie races at the 13th hole. He also spent a good 20 minutes signing autographs along the rope line outside the locker room after his round. Do you know of another sport when a disappointed athlete will do that?
One last random thought after my first visit to Colonial in decades. It really is a lot like the "other" Hogan's Alley, Riviera, just without the elevation changes. And look at the recent winner's list. Sure, Hogan dominated at both courses. But last year Phil Mickelson won at both, and this year Steve Stricker won in Fort Worth after missing a playoff in Los Angeles by a single shot. Rory Sabbatini has won in both places, as has Corey Pavin. Long hitters, shorter hitters, aggressive players, tacticians -- everyone has a shot at the homes of Hogan.
| This week's Kodak Challenge hole | |
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| This week at the Kodak Challenge hole | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Round-by-round statistics on the par-3 13th at Colonial CC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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