Golf:Lee Westwood has another disappointment to add to his long list, this time out-gunned by a player who knows even more about near-misses. South African Tim Clark won The Players Championship at Sawgrass, golf's richest tournament, to end a 12-year and 206-event search for his first victory on American soil.
During that time Clark suffered no fewer than eight runners-up finishes, but his patience was finally rewarded when he captured the €1.26million first prize by one stroke with a fine closing 67 as the Sawgrass course really bared its teeth.
Westwood, who lost the Masters last month to a final-day 67 from Phil Mickelson and bogeyed the last to finish one behind at the British Open at Turnberry last July, was trying to become Europe's third successive winner of this title.
He led by one both at halfway and after three rounds and shared top spot with nine to go, but could not respond to Clark's mid-round charge - five birdies in six holes.
The English golfer came to the last two holes knowing he needed to birdie both just to force a play-off on 16 under par.
Instead, however, the world number four went into the water on the famous near island green 17th, double-bogeyed it and a par on the last for a 74 left him in a tie for fourth.
On a day which saw a struggling Tiger Woods quit on the seventh hole with a neck problem - the first time in his professional career he has not completed a round – Clark was one of only two players to break 70.
After making an eight-foot par putt on the last he had to wait to see if anybody could catch him.
With Westwood falling out of the hunt Australian Robert Allenby was the last man in with a chance.
He had a chance to draw level with an eagle on the long 16th, but left that on the lip and did the same with an 11-foot birdie attempt at the 17th.
Another birdie was therefore needed to take it to sudden death, but the 462-yard 18th was a beast all day into the wind and Allenby missed the green and parred.
It left him in second place on his own, with US Open champion Lucas Glover third and Westwood in a tie with American quartet Davis Love, Heath Slocum, Bo Van Pelt and Ben Crane.
Clark said: "I did all I could - that's as good as I could have played.
"I figured I was right there once I got to 15 under (on the 11th) and I felt like I hit every shot I wanted to."
Westwood twice lost the lead to Allenby in the early stages, the first of them when the Melbourne golfer chipped in for eagle from deep rough on the second.
But Europe's leading player birdied there and thanks to a 18-foot birdie putt on the fifth and a 22-footer for par at the long ninth - he had chipped over the green into a bunker - he turned one in front.
By then, though, Clark was on a real purple patch. He had holed from 10 feet at the seventh and when four more came in a row from the ninth he was one in front.
That became two when Westwood bogeyed the 14th after an errant drive, but although he came back from that with a 48-foot putt on the next it was only for par and he lipped out for birdie at the 16th.
It could have been the day when Mickelson finally became world number one for the first time in his career, but knowing a win would get him there after Woods pulled out the left-hander dropped from 11th to 17th with a 74.
So Mickelson will now have his 245th week as second on the rankings and Woods his 599th as number one.
Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell, who had been in the hunt at halfway, finished with rounds of 75 and 74 respectively to be tied for 26th on five under.
Oliver Wilson had seven bogeys in his last 12 holes for a 79 and one over, while Swede Robert Karlsson put two balls in the water for a quadruple bogey nine at the 11th as he also returned a 79.
The Swede would have finished last of those who made the cut but for Woods withdrawing.
Westwood's hopes ended when he found the lake short of the 17th green, but Allenby was safely on and his 11-foot birdie attempt to tie hung agonisingly on the lip.
After missing the last green, however, he failed to hole from there and victory was Clark's.
Collated final-round scores and totals (USA unless stated, par 72):
272Tim Clark (Rsa) 68 71 66 67
273Robert Allenby (Aus) 66 70 67 70
274Lucas Glover 70 65 69 70
276Ben Crane 67 69 68 72, Davis Love III 69 68 71 68, Bo Van Pelt 68 69 69 70, Heath Slocum 67 66 72 71, Lee Westwood (Eng) 67 65 70 74
277Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 65 71 73
279Chris Stroud 70 69 66 74, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 69 70 69 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 69 70 69 71
280John Rollins 68 69 70 73, J.B. Holmes 66 72 72 70, Matt Kuchar 68 71 70 71, Scott Verplank 71 70 69 70
281Phil Mickelson 70 71 66 74, Nick Watney 69 71 68 73, Hunter Mahan 70 69 70 72, Chris Couch 74 68 67 72, Troy Matteson 68 71 71 71
282Kenny Perry 67 71 71 73, Charley Hoffman 68 68 69 77, Zach Johnson 70 70 67 75, Sean O'Hair 70 69 70 73
283Bob Estes 70 69 72 72, Adam Scott (Aus) 70 68 71 74, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 72 65 72 74,Jeff Overton 70 72 70 71, Jimmy Walker 71 69 68 75, Luke Donald (Eng) 67 69 72 75
284Steve Marino 73 67 72 72, Steve Flesch 71 71 71 71
285Dustin Johnson 71 71 70 73, K J Choi (Kor) 69 68 72 76, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 70 69 70 76, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 71 68 76, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 70 68 73 74
286Jerry Kelly 73 66 73 74, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 72 69 71 74, Bill Haas 68 69 70 79, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 67 66 76 77, Fred Funk 72 70 66 78, James Nitties (Aus) 70 72 72 72
287Spencer Levin 71 67 72 77, Kris Blanks 71 71 75 70
288John Merrick 70 72 71 75, Jim Furyk 69 73 73 73, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 69 70 71 78, Ryan Moore 67 70 71 80, Alex Prugh 69 73 70 76
289Justin Leonard 72 68 70 79, Paul Goydos 69 68 71 81, Oliver Wilson (Eng) 70 70 70 79, James Driscoll 71 71 77 70
290Boo Weekley 69 72 68 81, Woody Austin 69 72 73 76
291George McNeill 75 67 72 77, J J Henry 68 71 77 75, Kevin Stadler 69 70 78 74, Brett Quigley 72 69 75 75, Alex Cejka (Ger) 69 72 76 74, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 71 79 71
292Roland Thatcher 71 68 75 78, Jason Bohn 67 74 71 80
293Ben Curtis 71 68 75 79, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 70 75 76
295Troy Merritt 71 70 76 78
296Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 69 77 79