Darren Clarke shot a blazing final round of 64 to hold off Retief Goosen and claim the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai for what was a consecutive win on the PGA Champions Tour for the Dungannon native.
Clarke finished at 21-under, for a 195 total, two strokes ahead of Goosen, who also carded a 64, including an eagle, but couldn't catch up to Clarke. The pair tied for the low round of the day in Ka'upulehu-Kona, Hawaii, neither recording a bogey.
"There's no unassailable lead because the guys make birdies, you saw that today. That's just the way it is. You have to play well and you have to stay aggressive, and I was able to do that today," Clarke said afterwards.
Well done, @DarrenClarke60.
— PGA TOUR Champions (@ChampionsTour) January 24, 2021
Cheers! 🍻 pic.twitter.com/kw6Pr2xSDm
"I could see everything Goose was doing, so every time he was making a birdie, I was having to try and follow him, make another birdie right on top of him playing behind him. But that's brilliant, that's why we play the game. We play for the competition, we play to put ourselves in position that we want to win," the 2011 Open winner added.
Goosen put the pressure on, following a birdie at the third with an eagle on the par-5 fourth. But Clarke carded six birdies on the back nine to counter the South African.
"I gave it a good run, but Clarkie behind me played awesome and congrats to him," Goosen said.
"There was scoreboards all around the back nine, so I get all square and he goes one ahead, I get all square and he goes one ahead.
Clarke, 52, earned back-to-back victories after claiming the TimberTech Championship in November, his most recent Champions outing. It was his first win on the tour.
Jerry Kelly (68) finished alone in third at 17 under, and Scott Parel (66),Kevin Sutherland (67) and Fred Couples (67) all tied for fourth at 15 under.
