Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke tasted victory at the PGA Tour Champions’ American Family Insurance Championship for the second-straight year as he and team-mate Ben Crane edged home by one shot.
Clarke, who won the Tour’s only team event with Thomas Bjorn last year, had a new partner this time with Crane filling in for the injured
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Dane and they finished on 30-under at TPC Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, one shot ahead of United States’ pair Kenny Perry and George McNeill.
Clarke and Crane finished first in the event that was contested by 38 two-man teams which was played on a four-ball format on Friday and Sunday, with a scramble format on Saturday and this is where they put themselves in the mix with a tournament record of 17-under to take the lead going into the final day.
It took them a while to get into their groove on Sunday with their first birdie posted on the seventh, but remained in the mix with three birdies on the back nine.
Crane missed a long par putt to win on the last, but Clarke rolled in his to seal the victory.
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“It was a hard day for us both and we both stepped up and made some clutch putts and clutch shots when we really had to down the stretch,” said Clarke.
“We said at the start of the week, our goal was to get ourselves in the mix on the back nine on Sunday and that’s what we did.”
Crane paid tribute to the 2011 Open and four-time Ryder Cup winner’s resolve for sinking the final putt under pressure to seal the win.
“He stepped up there; it was unbelievable,” said the American.
“It was so much fun. You can see why this guy’s won Ryder Cup after Ryder Cup. It’s just elite golf, elite mentally.”
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Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s Tom McKibbin played his part in helping Legion XIII win the team at competition LIV Golf Andalucia – six shots clear of 4Aces GC and Torque GC – taking a share of the $3million prize.
The Holywood golfer finished the individual event in a tie for 21st place on two-over, which was won by his Legion X111 team-mate Tyrrell Hatton.
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