Davis Love became the most dominant player in the history of Harbour Town when he captured top prize of $342,000 in the $1.9 million MCI Classic here yesterday. In winning it for a record fourth time, with an 18-under-par aggregate of 266, he was a crushing seven strokes clear of second-placed Glen Day to take the title for a record fourth time.
"This is such a great place that, hopefully, I won't stop coming here until I'm 48," said Love after his first win of the year and the 13th of his career. "I couldn't have driven the ball any better and I didn't miss a putt that I had to make. I'm really pleased, if only because it's so hard to stay on top."
His latest success increased Love's record, personal haul from the event to a formidable $941,553. It was also the biggest winning margin here. But another record eluded him. By missing the green at the short 17th, where he carded a bogey, he finished a stroke outside the record aggregate of 19-under, set by Loren Roberts in 1996.
Leading by two strokes overnight, he effectively wrapped up the title with an outward 31 to be seven strokes clear of his closest challenger at that stage. A measure of Love's supremacy at the island venue is that, at 23 years and six days, he was the tournament's youngest winner when he first won it in 1987.
In a picturesque setting, numerous luxury boats were moored offshore, effectively turning the area into an aquatic parking lot while their occupants viewed the golf through binoculars. As one owner put it: "You don't have to fight any traffic jams and you get a beautiful view of the 18th."
There was nothing uplifting, however, about the sight of Nick Faldo trudging up the finishing hole on his way to a closing bogey and a wretched 83 - his worst score in an American event since he first came over here in 1979. It consigned him to last place on the scoreboard, with an aggregate of 300 - 16 over par.
His previous worst over here was an 82 in the 1981 Houston Open, though he had an 81 while failing to make the cut as defending US Masters champion at Augusta last year. Faldo also missed last week's cut at Augusta.
Ireland's Darren Clarke shot a final round of 71 for an aggregate of 286, a share of 45th place and prize money of $5,563. But he had good reason to be disgusted with his eventual position, given that a sparkling outward journey of 32 left him two under for the tournament and set for a top-20 finish.
Meanwhile, a half-raised arm from Faldo represented a limp, almost embarrassed acknowledgment of polite applause when a red-coated official introduced him to the gallery surrounding the 18th as "three-time Masters and three-time British Open champion . . ." Even at that early stage of the day, the utterly dejected Englishman knew his fate as last man on the scoreboard.
"Sorry, I'm a little out of it - see you soon," was all he could manage by way of an explanation, when I spoke with him afterwards. Earlier in the weekend, he had complained almost despairingly about the number of bad shots he was hitting. "I'll just have to work that much harder," he said resolutely.
Typical of his torment was his play of the two short holes on a wretched outward journey of 45. At the 198-yard fourth, his tee-shot came up short in the water. He later pitched through the green from where a poor return chip led to a triple-bogey six.
Then came a double-bogey five at the 180-yard seventh. This was the product of another poor tee-shot, which finished in front bunker, and three putts completed his misery. While most of those around him were in red figures, he hadn't made a birdie since the short 14th on Saturday.
Since his arrival here, Faldo had complained at various stages about his putting, his course management and his ball-striking. The more enlightened observers take the view that all of his problems stem from the one source - a non-productive blade.
It was bitterly ironic for Clarke that a short game which delivered such a rich harvest at Augusta the previous week should have been so unreliable on this occasion. In fact, his scoring could hardly have been worse, given how well he was striking his woods and irons.
But chipping and pitching were a crucial element of survival, given the smallness of the greens at Harbour Town and the difficulty of swirling winds, particularly on the more exposed homeward journey. "We don't have those sort of wiry fringes in Europe and I will just have to get used to them," said Clarke.
"Coming here, I felt I was playing well enough to win. And I continued to swing the club really well over the four days. That's what makes my final position so disappointing. But I've got to learn to do better if I'm to have the success over here that I know I'm capable of."
It wasn't as if Clarke had been dogged by bad luck. In fact he holed a nine-iron second shot for an eagle two at the first on Saturday, yet failed to build on that splendid start on the way to a decidedly moderate 72 to be tied 64th overnight.
Determined to do himself justice, he chipped to three feet for a birdie yesterday at the long second. This was followed by a five-iron to 12 feet for another birdie at the short fourth. He also birdied the long fifth by recovering from a greenside bunker to three feet, and he pitched even closer for another birdie at the ninth.
All of that good work was squandered, however, through sloppy wedge play on the homeward journey, leading to bogeys at the 10th, 11th, 13th and 18th. "On average over the four rounds, I got up and down about once in seven attempts - that's where the problem was," he said ruefully.
