Cool Clarke reigns in Spain

DARREN CLARKE ended a three-year winless drought in Mallorca but Graeme McDowell couldn’t make it an Irish double as he imploded with a final round 79 in the Players Championship at Sawgrass.

The US Open champion was one stroke clear of David Toms and Korea’s KJ Choi on 12 under after carding a 68 in the weather-delayed third round yesterday morning.

But the running repairs he made to his swing with coach Pete Cowen last weekend failed to stand up under pressure and he finished eight shots outside a play-off between eventual winner 40-year-old Choi and 42-year-old Toms in a share of 33rd on five under par.

Despite holing a 50-footer for birdie at the fifth to get to 13 under, McDowell dropped five shots in his next 10 holes after a series of erratic swings and then double bogeyed the 17th and bogeyed the 18th after visits to water.

A pushed drive into the trees at the sixth sowed the seeds of doubt and he dropped further shots at the seventh and ninth after visits to water and a bush respectively before finding water left of the par three 13th to kiss the title goodbye.

“I just ran out of steam a little bit,” McDowell said. “After the bogeys on six and seven I just went a little flat. I started chasing then and this golf course will do that to you. I just didn’t play well and didn’t have the energy levels to pick myself back up.

“This is going to hurt for a few hours but I have some great golf to look forward to.”

Choi (70) was one behind Toms (70) with three to play but drew level with a par at the 16th and then went to the last one clear with a birdie at the 17th before the American forced a play-off with a brave birdie from 17 feet at the last as they finished tied on 13 under.

In the end Choi took the title when Toms three-putted the 17th.

Earlier in the day, Clarke drew on some inspirational remarks by wartime leader Winston Churchill to capture the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca and his first tour win in three years.

The 42-year old was one of just eight players to break par in windy conditions on the Pula course as he signed for a one under par 69 to win by three strokes from England’s Chris Wood and David Lynn.

Chasing his maiden tour win, Wood led by four overnight but he slipped to a disappointing 76 as Clarke’s experience proved crucial.

The Ulsterman reduced Wood’s overnight advantage to one within three holes, but a double bogey at the 11th after finding water looked to have cost him a first win since the 2008 KLM Open.

But Wood encountered numerous problems on the back nine – three-putting the 12th and 13th and driving out of bounds at the 15th as he came back in 40, despite coming within millimetres of a hole in one at the last.

And Clarke finished in style, holing a putt from the fringe at the 14th, nailing his approach to six feet at the 15th, saving par on the 16th with a brilliant approach from a fairway bunker and then holing another putt from off the green to scramble par at the next.

During Clarke’s three week competition break in the Bahamas read a number of motivational books including one on famous quotes.

“I have been doing an awful lot of reading of late and I went out today with a quote in my head which was ‘Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never’,” said Clarke.

“It was a quote used by Winston Churchill and no matter what happened today, I was never going to give in. I said that to myself when I made a double on 11 but then I had two great up-and-down’s after that. So it feels good right now to win again.

“It’s been three years since I last won.”

Clarke earned €166,660 to jump from 92nd to 35th on the Race to Dubai money list and take his season’s earnings to €261,380 with Bray’s John Mulrooney on the bag.

Shane Lowry’s bid for first pro career victory looked to have ended when he started bogey, double bogey at the first two holes. But while the Esker Hills star birdied the sixth, seventh, eighth and 10th to het back into the mix, he collapsed down the stretch.

Playing with Wood in the last group, he followed Clarke into the water at 11 for a double bogey and then bogeyed the 12th, 15th and 16th holes for a 74 to finish in a share of fifth on one under par.

Damien McGrane carded a 70 to tie for ninth on level par with Newcastle’s Simon Thornton tied for 16th on three over after a 74.