February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Twice had Clarke separated himself from his pursuers, but perhaps he is one of those people who loses focus in the absence of a challenge, who needs to make things interesting. His co-star, Peter Lonard, played the role of a here today, gone tomorrow, back the next day, lost for most of the following day sort of fellow, who always finds a backdoor that has been left unlocked. Thanks to Clarke’s misfortune, Lonard got to lift the trophy at the end of regulation.
Lonard shot quickly out of the gate, firing a 62 on Thursday. As night follows day, so often does a horrendous round follow a stupendous round, so his 74 on Friday doesn’t qualify as the biggest of surprises. Clarke, who shot consecutive 65s, led by six strokes as play commenced on Saturday. Things turned surreal as Clarke racked up bogeys on four of the first seven holes in the third round, with but a single birdie to staunch the bleeding. He would play out the rest of his round with three birds to two bogeys, as Lonard got back into contention by shooting 66 to lead Clarke by a stroke. That was nothing compared to what ensued on Sunday.
Clarke made like Shaq on a slam-dunk, with birdies on four of the first five holes, to put four strokes between himself and Lonard. He began to unravel on the sixth hole.
“Things happen out here that you don’t think are going to happen,” Clarke said after his Sunday tour, and few who witnessed his debacle would disagree.
Clarke found sand on the sixth hole and settled for a bogey; no big problem. He found sand on No. 7 and settled for a bogey; no big problem. He found water on No. 8 and had to drop, plus take a penalty stroke; big problem. At this juncture, with Lonard sinking a birdie putt, Clarke was now a stroke behind his rival, a five-stroke reversal over just three holes.
The ninth hole found Clarke back on even terms as Lonard took a bogey. Turning onto the back nine, Clarke’s approach shot on 10 hit a tree branch and came down well short of the green. Lonard again found sand and the two remained tied. A two-stroke swing resulted at No. 12 as Clarke birdied the hole, while Lonard picked up another bogey.
That Clarke would remain tied with Lonard after the 13th hole is truly remarkable. Clarke put his second shot into a deep, greenside bunker bordered by vertical planks. The ball came to rest less than a foot from the planks, beyond the pin. A southpaw could have easily blasted out, but, for a righthander, such a task is impossible, as there is no room to address the ball while facing the pin. Clarke, standing at a 90-degree angle to the pin, tried to lift his ball out of the bunker onto the green, but the ball caught the tuft of turf atop the planks and ricocheted back, causing Clarke to jump backward to avoid being hit by the ball, which would have cost him two extra strokes.
Clarke got out of this perverse dungeon on his second try, but the ball skipped across the green, coming to rest on the fringe. A superb putt stopped about a foot short of the cup and he was lucky to escape with only a double bogey and a share of the lead.
The par-3 14th hole held its own charm. Both Clarke and Lonard sailed their tee shots left of the green, to within two feet of each other. Clarke’s chip shot bounded along the felt and appeared ticketed for the pond, but stopped in a crevice on a railroad tie serving as a bulkhead. Clarke was able to assume a normal stance, thanks to a piling about a foot behind his ball placement. The specter of him losing his balance and plunging into the pond was much too tangible a possibility, but this didn’t happen as he managed a nice recovery with a wedge to leave the ball about two feet from the cup. He got away with only a bogey, as did Lonard, and they were still tied, with nobody else close.
Clarke then three-putted 15 for the second straight day, while Lonard’s birdie putt hung on the lip of the cup. Par for Lonard and a one-stroke lead. A sense of normalcy returned on 16, as both men played to par.
The momentum swung back to Clarke on 17, after he and Lonard landed in the sand. The Aussie left his par putt just short of the cup, while Clarke nailed a two-footer for par and a share of the lead.
The prospect of a dramatic finish on the 18th green expired when Clarke’s approach shot sailed leftward into the scrub that separates the green from the beach. After several minutes spent fruitlessly searching for his ball, Clarke returned to the fairway to the point at which his shot entered the badlands, effectively conceding the tournament to Lonard. Clarke took a double-bogey 6 on the hole, while Lonard’s par provided a two-stroke margin of victory over Clarke and three others, whose good fortune it was to back into a share of second place, with earnings of $343,200.
Graeme McDowell was also on hand, but far down the leaderboard in 70th place at 299 (75-71-75-78). Over the final 36 holes, he managed only one birdie, while suffering 10 bogeys and one double bogey. He pocketed $10,348.
EUROPEAN TOUR
The triple bogey-7 that Peter Lawrie took Thursday on No. 8 at San Roque in Cadiz, Spain, certainly must have stung as the Dubliner walked off the green there. But that episode loomed even larger at the end of the Spanish Open as he settled for a piece of third place, three strokes behind Peter Hanson and Peter Gustafsson, who went to a sudden-death playoff, where Hanson prevailed for the win. Lawrie shot 283 (71-70-73-69) for the tournament, which was five strokes under par.
Paul McGinley’s 287 (76-70-72-69) was good for a piece of eighth place. Damien McGrane shared 17th place at 289 (73-74-69-73). Down the leaderboard in 56th position came Gary Murphy at 296 (73-74-77-72).