Clark hits big putt to seal win

SAN FRANCISCO – Tim Clark, the smallest man and shortest hitter at the Presidents Cup, dropped the biggest shot draining a 14-foot putt at the last to earn the Internationals a fourball split with the US on Friday.

As the sun was setting into the ocean, Clark watched his curling putt catch the left lip and tip into the hole to seal the one-up victory for the South African and partner Vijay Singh over Americans Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover.While the gallery held its collective breath, Clark dropped to his knees and hung his head as the stoic Singh broke out into a wide smile followed by a hearty fist pump.’I was pretty calm when I had to stand over it but we were pretty safe on that hole,’ Clark said after improving his Presidents Cup fourball record to 4-0-1. ‘We couldn’t lose the hole, which was a good thing.’That Clark made a key putt was not so much a surprise as the diminutive 1.70m-tall (5’7′) South African reaching the green on the par-five 18th in two.One of the PGA Tour’s more accurate hitters, Clark is not known for his length off the tee but muscled his second shot to within 14 feet to put the pressure on the Americans.’It was a close match all day,’ said Singh, who has played in every Presidents Cup. ‘We hung in there. That was the key I think, we just hung in there.’That was a big one for us.’Clark and Singh have been split by captain Greg Norman for Saturday morning’s foursomes with the South African partnering Canadian Mike Weir.Two of golf’s smallest players, Clark and Weir will face a huge challenge as they take on Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker, who have been in ruthless form posting two crushing wins.’Myself and Mike wanted that match tomorrow,’ said Clark, who is still chasing his first PGA Tour win.’We know whoever is going up against them is going to have it tough and we just feel like with our solid games tomorrow, we can go out and at least try and wear them down if we can.’But that’s going to be tough. We just put our hands up and said, ‘we’ll take that match’.’ – Nampa-Reuters