Akron, Aug 25: Darren Clarke shot a closing three-under-par 67 at the Firestone Country Club South Course on Sunday to win his second World Golf Championship title by a comfortable four-stroke margin.

The Northern Irishman led by a single shot overnight and got off to a good start as he cruised to a 12-under 268 total, well ahead of American Jonathan Kaye in second place.
With the victory, the 35-year-old became just the second player after Tiger Woods to win multiple WGC tournaments after he picked up the Accenture Match Play championships in 2000.
"It's fantastic to win another World Golf Championship after the last one," Clarke said after picking up a cool $1.05 million and his first title since the 2002 Compass Group English Open. "Anytime you do something that Tiger has is pretty good, so I'm delighted to have won again."
Kaye, who began the day a stroke behind Clarke, never put any pressure on the Ulsterman and finished with a 70. Davis Love III was another stroke back after a 69. Kaye made little headway despite two late bogeys by the leader.



"I managed to do what I had to do," Clarke said after his 14th career victory. "I don't know if it's a relief or not, but I feel very good at the moment about what I've achieved because I've had a season where I've been putting a lot of work in and getting not very good results.



"To actually win a tournament as important as this one, it certainly makes me feel pretty good."



Clarke, who already had conditional membership on the PGA Tour, said he planned to play around 16 events next year in the U.S. and a similar number on the European Tour.



"As long as you're top-50 in the world it's easy to do that," he said. "It's something that I can do and I'm in a position to do that."

Bureau Report