[scotto69]

I can't imagine how disappointing it is to be on the verge of winning your first PGA event, hit a damn near perfect shot in the playoff and LOSE because you hit the stupid stick and it spins back to 22 ft away. The golf gods are some cruel bastards at times.

Congrats to Stricker but man it must suck to know you hit a fantastic shot and watch bad luck cost you a chance at a victory and couple hundred grand.

Clark should win sometime soon though. Great player.

[Carl Spackler2]

Timmy had TWO putts to close the deal. That will catch up with you very quickly if you do not take advantage. Sad day for Clark but good win by Stricks.

[MtlJeff]

1 reply to this thread about colonial! it's unfortunate that even hardcore golf fans like ourselves don't seem to pay as much attention when Phil and Tiger aren't playing

poor Tim Clark, yes he should've made the putts but winning that first event must be so difficult

congrats to Stricker, who seems like a super nice guy, and has a great game.

[leftiesonly]

I think the CBS guys overstated how close Clark's shot would have been if it didn't
hit the pin. It hit the pin at least half way up, I doubt it would have been as close
as Stricker's. Clark has had many chances to win and hasn't closed the deal, crappy
putting will catch up to you sooner or later. Congrats to Stricker!

[IANative]

Loved it! Felt a little bad for Clark's luck after hitting the pin; felt a little bad for Marino having to deal w/ the crowd issues on the 17th tee in sudden death; but don't feel bad at all about Stricks' perseverence. Appreciated the camera love for those sweet, clean 755's, too.

[Dizzub]

I liked all three guys in the playoff so I couldn't root for anyone. I kinda wanted Clark to win because hes too good not to win on the PGA tour. I felt bad for him, misses the short birdie for the win then hits the stick from 142 and kick 30 feet away.

[CowtownTexas]

IANative, on May 31 2009, 08:17 PM, said:

Loved it! Felt a little bad for Clark's luck after hitting the pin; felt a little bad for Marino having to deal w/ the crowd issues on the 17th tee in sudden death; but don't feel bad at all about Stricks' perseverence. Appreciated the camera love for those sweet, clean 755's, too.

I saw Marino after the round and he was all smiles. Heading out with his family to celebrate a fun week. I hope he wins soon.

Felt just awful for Clark, but was happy for Stricker. Tough playoff when you'd like to see all three win.

[desaille]

Clark had couple chances of winning. Especially that first playoff hole. Cant ask for anything more especially with all that pressure there.
He just jabbed the putt vs stroking it. You give him that putt in any other situation, he'd make 10/10

[ktbfsu]

having "hitting the pin and losing" below your main "spoiler" subject line is sort of a spoiler.

while clark's ball did hit high on the the flag, it had backspin (as evidenced by its action once it hit the green after hitting the flag) and it was coming in very steep.....it would have likely been outside of stricker's ball, but still very close. it might have been the perfect match play type scenario where clark would have been able to hole a five footer, making stricker's 3.5 footer all the more testy.

very, very bad break for clark for sure. i think he should have been more aggressive on his second shot on 18 in regulation.

[rellik]

Clark has a beautiful stack and tilt swing. Effective too, he'll get a win soon I bet

[JYB]

I think that hitting the damn pin is one of the hardest things to do in golf. For christ's sake: making a 20 footer is MUCH easier than hitting that damn pin. They should either change the material the pins are made of OR give people like instant birdies if they hit the pins ( if they're hitting them from ways away like Clark did).

[Roland]

I remember the same thing happened to CHIII a few years a go, his ball hit the pin and spun back into a hazard. Just hard luck reallly I'm sure Tim will win in the US soon, he has won a few on the European tour already

[davewalji]

I wish he had won, hes got a great swing and really deserves it,

Oh well, good win by stricker however you have to hand it to Steve M, only two bogey's the whole week

[Noel 905R]

IANative, on Jun 1 2009, 02:17 AM, said:

Loved it! Felt a little bad for Clark's luck after hitting the pin; felt a little bad for Marino having to deal w/ the crowd issues on the 17th tee in sudden death; but don't feel bad at all about Stricks' perseverence. Appreciated the camera love for those sweet, clean 755's, too.

Missed the coverage, what were the crowd issues Marino had at the 17th?

[bifftaco]

Noel 905R, on Jun 1 2009, 05:41 AM, said:

IANative, on Jun 1 2009, 02:17 AM, said:

Loved it! Felt a little bad for Clark's luck after hitting the pin; felt a little bad for Marino having to deal w/ the crowd issues on the 17th tee in sudden death; but don't feel bad at all about Stricks' perseverence. Appreciated the camera love for those sweet, clean 755's, too.

Missed the coverage, what were the crowd issues Marino had at the 17th?

Some "fans" jumped into the water around the hole.

Is it me or was Stricker on the verge of a smile during this? I think he would have laughed if he didn't have so much on the line!

[Carolina Golfer 2]

IANative, on May 31 2009, 09:17 PM, said:

Loved it! Felt a little bad for Clark's luck after hitting the pin; felt a little bad for Marino having to deal w/ the crowd issues on the 17th tee in sudden death; but don't feel bad at all about Stricks' perseverence. Appreciated the camera love for those sweet, clean 755's, too.

First let me state, I'm a BIG Tim Clark fan, I've met him through a mutual friend and talked to him several times. Great guy, but he lost it and would be the first to tell you that it shouldn't have come down to that 2nd playoff hole. It was his tournament to lose 2 up with 4 holes to go and never should have made it to the playoff, OR past the 1st playoff hole.

Now onto to Marino, not that I condone the foolishness (whatever it was since we didn't see) on the 18th hole and then again on the playoff tee. But I found some poetic justice that it was Marino that was bothered by it.

Last year during the AT&T National at Congressional, Marino was near the lead going into the weekend. Being a "local guy" a lot of his local friends came out. They were nothing short of a bunch of "frat boy jerks" Now before all you young guys think I'm an uptight old fart, that's not it.

There were photos of them in the Washington Post drawing attention to themselves. I forget who Marino's playing partner was that Saturday, but he had to mention a couple time to marshalls and security to get them to quiet down. From a buddy who was at the tournament and was with that group for a few holes, he said he'd never seen anything like it from any golf spectators. he said they were falling down drunk and obnoxious. So I didn't have too much sympathy for Marino yesterday. Guess what goes around comes around.

Nice win by Stricker, I'm always glad to see him do well. One of the tour's classiest guys.

[Captain Nimrod]

Tough loss for Clark, but it was his to win and he could not close the deal. Clutch putt by Stricker, who had been missing 4-footers all day long. Great tourney all around. Kudos to the Colonial for an excellent field and exciting championship.

[soberguy16]

midasmulligan2000, on Jun 1 2009, 07:48 AM, said:

leftiesonly, on May 31 2009, 09:10 PM, said:

I think the CBS guys overstated how close Clark's shot would have been if it didn't
hit the pin. It hit the pin at least half way up, I doubt it would have been as close
as Stricker's. Clark has had many chances to win and hasn't closed the deal, crappy
putting will catch up to you sooner or later. Congrats to Stricker!

+1 ... on both counts. I saw the shot (and saw it couple of times afterwards in slow motion). Looked like it hit at least three or four feet up the pin. If it hadn't hit the pin, it probably wouldn't have wound up 22 feet away ... but it also wouldn't have been 2 feet away. He would have had a longer putt than Stricker. The announcers just like the drama.

In fact, Clark gave away the match on the hole before (and on two or three other holes on the back nine). Looks like the pressure just got to him. His game is PGA, but his putting is Nationwide. Hopefully he does some serious work on it.

But really - congrats to Stricker. He earned the win. Only thing wrong with the announcers making a big deal of hitting the pin is that it makes it seem as though Stricker won because of Clark's "bad luck". IMO ... Stricker won because he won (not because Clark lost). Clark had his chance on the first playoff hole, and he didn't convert. When Stricker got his chance, he did.

+2. that ball would have been on the fringe at best. they were hitting downwind and strickers ball hit short and released, rolling about 10-15 feet. theres no way clarks would have been close to strickers he damn near hit the top of the stick. my guess is at best he would have been in the back fringe maybe even just into the rough. i dont think hitting the pin was a horrible break. as others have said it should never have come down to that hole. he had chances to win in regulation and the first playoff hole...he committed the cardinal sin in regulation leaving his putt short (not a long putt) and just yanked the 7 footer on the first playoff hole. I wanted clark or marino to win but both seem to need some help closing off tournaments...theyll both eventually win and it will be a lot easier for them to perform down the stretch afterwards.

[SpartyOn1982]

There is no way that Clarks ball ends up in the rough on that shot. The ball was on a good angle and probably would have landed 10'-15' past the hole, add the amount of backspin he generated on that shot and you are looking at a 5'-8' putt a most. Obviously this is speculation but you really cant say that he would end up in the rough, that shot was sweet!
Unfortunately for Clark, he should have won at the first playoff hole but let those nerves really get a hold of him with such a short putt.
Congrats to Stricker for grinding it out and then chipping that shot in at 17 to keep his chances for a playoff intact.