Tim Clark made up a three-stroke deficit in the final nine holes to win the RBC Canadian Open. Veteran Jim Furyk started the final nine at 15 under par. Eight pars and one birdie brought his final total to 16 under par. Tim Clark started the final nine at 12 under par. Four pars and five birdies later, he captured Canada’s national championship.
Clark won because of his superior putting and approach play. He gained a total of 4.1 strokes per round on the field, with a gain of 1.6 strokes per round from his putting (rank 2) and 1.4 strokes per round from his approach shots (rank 8).
Clark’s putting on the final nine was phenomenal: He gained 4.2 strokes on the final nine compared to 6.5 strokes for the entire tournament. His back nine putting featured seven one-putts: from 5 feet (hole 10, gain 0.3), 25 feet (hole 11, gain 0.9), 6 feet (hole 12, gain 0.3), 6 feet (hole 14, gain 0.3), 10 feet (hole 15, gain 0.6), 11 feet (hole 16, gain 0.7), and 15 feet (hole 17, gain 0.8). Furyk, on the other hand, lost 1.4 strokes with his putting on the final nine.
Clark had missed 8 cuts in 14 events since January, but he tied for fifth at the John Deere Classic two weeks ago. For the season, Clark ranks 98 with his 0.2 strokes gained per round on the field. He won by playing 3.9 strokes per round better than his season average, with improvements in every part of his game.
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt | |
| Tim Clark during win | 4.1 (1) | 0.2 (33) | 1.4 (8) | 0.8 (11) | 1.6 (2) |
| Tim Clark during season | 0.2 (98) | -0.3 (175) | 0.1 (91) | 0.3 (46) | 0.0 (115) |
| Difference | 3.9 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
Here’s a strokes gained breakdown of the top eleven finishers at the RBC Canadian Open:
| Strokes gained per round (ranks in parentheses) | |||||
| Golfer | Total | Drive | Appr | Short | Putt |
| Tim Clark | 4.1 (1) | 0.2 (33) | 1.4 (8) | 0.8 (11) | 1.6 (2) |
| Jim Furyk | 3.8 (2) | 0.5 (19) | 2.6 (1) | 0.1 (40) | 0.6 (25) |
| Justin Hicks | 3.1 (3) | 0.4 (22) | 1.4 (7) | 0.3 (26) | 0.9 (11) |
| Matt Kuchar | 2.6 (T4) | 0.1 (37) | 1.2 (9) | 0.0 (44) | 1.2 (7) |
| Gonzalo Fdez-Castano | 2.6 (T4) | 0.9 (5) | 2.3 (3) | -0.3 (62) | -0.3 (59) |
| Michael Putnam | 2.6 (T4) | 0.4 (26) | 1.6 (5) | 0.3 (27) | 0.3 (38) |
| Graham DeLaet | 2.3 (T7) | 0.4 (28) | 2.3 (2) | -1.3 (72) | 1.0 (9) |
| Dicky Pride | 2.3 (T7) | 0.1 (40) | 0.0 (54) | 1.1 (5) | 1.2 (6) |
| Graeme McDowell | 2.1 (T9) | 0.1 (41) | 1.8 (4) | 1.0 (8) | -0.7 (70) |
| Kevin Kisner | 2.1 (T9) | 0.5 (21) | -0.9 (68) | 0.0 (45) | 2.4 (1) |
| Brad Fritsch | 2.1 (T9) | 0.4 (23) | 0.9 (18) | 0.2 (35) | 0.6 (24) |
| Top 11 average | 2.7 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 |
| Fraction of total | 100% | 14% | 49% | 8% | 30% |
This post appeared originally on pgatour.com here