If any of you watched the Masters golf tournament last weekend, you probably noticed Bubba Watson’s pink driver, made by his club sponsor Ping, on Watson’s insistence to raise awareness for cancer research projects. What you most likely didn’t notice was that a former Wolfpack legend was among the field of 98 in Augusta, Georgia.
Although he missed the cut this year, Tim Clark is a former runner-up at the Masters after finishing second in 2006 to Phil Mickelson. Standing at 5-foot 7-inches, Clark was also one of five South Africans competing for the green jacket this year at Augusta National Golf Club.
Born in Durban, South Africa, Clark picked up the game of golf at age three and recorded his first hole-in-one at age eight. He had a very successful collegiate career at N.C . State under head coach Richard Sykes, winning the ACC Player of the Year award in 1997 (one of only two Wolfpack players to win the award). Clark was also a three-time All-American (1996-1998), ACC Rookie of the Year in 1996 and won five collegiate tournaments (a school record) among numerous other awards and accolades.
In 1997, Clark won the U.S . Amateur Public Links Championship to qualify for his first major–the 1998 Masters. Although he didn’t make the cut after the first two days, the event served as a valuable experience and later that year Clark decided to pursue professional golf. He qualified for the PGA Tour in 2001.
Although his first full season in 2001 was hampered by a wrist injury, Clark bounced back with a solid season in 2002 and finished third at the PGA Championship in 2003. He also played in the President’s Cup tournament in 2003, marking the first of his three appearances for the International team (2003, 2005 and 2009).
In 2005 Clark had a banner year, finishing tied for third at the U.S . Open and winning two European Tour events. He destroyed the field at the South African Airways Open, beating runner-up and fellow countryman Charl Schwartzel (2011 Masters winner) by six shots. His other victory came at the Barclays Scottish Open, beating Darren Clarke (2011 British Open winner and Wake Forest alum) by two shots.
After finishing runner-up at the 2006 Masters, Clarke won the Australian Open in 2008 in a playoff after tying with Aussie Matthew Goggin after 72 holes. In 2009, Clarke almost claimed his first PGA Tour victory at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Country Club. However, he and Steve Marino (University of Virginia alum) lost in a playoff to Steve Stricker .
The highlight of Clark’s career came at the 2010 Player’s Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Florida. Clark shot 16-under during the four days to win his first PGA Tour event, coming back from three shots behind leader Lee Westwood on the final day. This victory made Clark the second player ever to win the Player’s Championship as their first PGA tour victory.
Clark incurred an elbow injury in 2011 and had surgery in August the same year. Although he has played since the surgery, he hasn’t made a cut since the 2011 Sony Open in January. However, his win at the Players Championship in 2010 came with a five-year exemption, meaning that Clark can play in PGA Tour events no matter what his results are until 2015. This means he will have plenty of time to recover his form after the elbow injury kept him from playing tournament golf from May 2011 until Feb. 2012.
