Tim Clark overtakes Jim Furyk to win Canadian Open in final round

Tim Clark recovered from a first-hole bogey to overtake Jim Furyk on the 15th and hang on to win the US$5.7 million RBC Canadian Open on Sunday afternoon.

Clark shot five-under-par 65 to finish at 17-under-par 263 to claim his second career PGA Tour victory and the $1,026-million winner’s prize.

Furyk, who has now lost seven tournaments in a row in which he led after 54 holes, went into the final round with a three-stroke cushion but never found traction and shot 69 to come second at 16-under 264.

Clark, who trailed by four strokes after bogeying the par-4 first, passed Furyk with a birdie on the 15th after a short rain delay. Both players birdied the 17th, setting up a final hole showdown.

Clark left a 44-foot putt about six feet short, but Furyk missed left on a 12-footer and Clark sealed the win by holing a six-foot putt.

Furyk has not won since a victory at the 2010 Players Championship gave him the FedEx Cup title and PGA player of the year honours. He fell short in a bid to become the fourth to win the Canadian Open three times after victories in 2006 and 2007.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., fired three birdies on the back nine for a 68 to finish as the low Canadian at 10-under and a tie for seventh place with Dicky Pride, who tied the course record with a 63.

Justin Hicks shot 64 to leap into third place alone at 13-under 267 in his best performance of the season.

Matt Kuchar (65), Michael Putnam (66) and Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (66) finished tied for fourth at 11-under 269.

Organizers moved up the starting times by two hours and had the players go out in threesomes from both the first and 10th tees to try to fit the final round between forecast rainstorms.

It almost worked to perfection. Most of the field had finished their rounds when a cloudburst halted play for 26 minutes with the final group — including Furyk and Clark — had only four holes left to play.

After DeLaet and Furyk both tied the course record with 7-under 63s in the second round, Pride matched it with a bogey-free round.

Pride had the course record at 64 the last time the event was held at Royal Montreal in 2001 only to see Scott Verplank and David Morland go one shot better the next day.

“I had to get my course record back,” said Pride, who birdied the 17th and 18th for the record. “So to tie them and go back and get it, I’m pretty happy about that.

“And I was thinking about it on 18 too, which is an idiotic thing to do, but I made the putt anyway.”

Brad Fritsch of Ottawa had a 10-foot putt on the 18th for a share of the record, but missed by perhaps a centimetre for a 64.

But the 36-year-old in the Ottawa Senators golf shirt used his 64 to finish the event at 9-under. His bogey free round included three birdies and an eagle on the back nine. Fritsch just made the cut on Friday with a birdie on the 18th.

“We made the most of the weekend,” said Fritsch. “We felt like we were playing with house money this weekend just because we felt lucky to even be playing.”

“I played great today. On the back nine, I made a bunch of putts and made some good shots coming down the stretch.

Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., capped a strong first Canadian Open experience with a 69 to finish as the low amateur at 3-under.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbottsford, B.C. both shot 71s and finished at 2-under. Mike Weir of Bright’s Grove, Ont. had 71 to finish at 2-over par.