“At the
golf course equipment start of the week I was playing okay but not great. The first couple of rounds I struggled a bit. Butch (Harmon) was watching on TV in Vegas and phoned me up, called me a few names and told me to do this and that – and it worked.
He said: “I thought I would need a 64 today. That
TaylorMade burner plus driver was my goal.” Thinking back to last year when Clarke finished both the second and third rounds with five successive birdies on his way to claiming the title, he added: “I took on the 13th tee saying I could finish with five birdies again, but then realised I had six holes to go! I made four in a row and didn’t quite convert the fifth but it was just good enough.”
Mark James,
taylormade burner plus irons and
TaylorMade Burner SuperLaunch Irons bidding to win the title for a third time and become the first player to win on the European Tour in four different decades, started the final day on nine under par and, after an early hiccup on the fourth, moved up the leaderboard with birdies at the fifth, sixth and
TaylorMade Burner XD Irons seventh. The 1999 Ryder Cup captain briefly moved into a share of the lead with Clarke and Campbell with a birdie 14th before the Ulsterman pulled clear. Chances to join Clarke at 13 under on the 16th and 17th from within six feet slipped past the hole as James finished with a round of 69.
