Darren Clarke comes through at Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai

Early in the back nine of the final round it became apparent that either Darren Clarke or Retief Goosen was going to be the winner at Hualalai.

It was fitting, perhaps. After all, the talented twosome had been at or near the top of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship leaderboard since Day 1 on Thursday. Never more than a pairing apart over the final 36 holes, each looked forward or backward at the other one on Saturday just to keep tabs.

It proved a viable match play strategy as Clarke knew all day what was needed of him at each hole to keep pace of the red-hot Goosen swinging one group in front. Closing with a 64 for a three-day total of 21-under 195, Clarke finished two shots clear of Goosen, who countered with a 64 of his own for a 19-under 197.

The $310,000 first-place check is not bad for Clarke’s first tour of the Jack Nicklaus-designed course of the Four Seasons resort that had a reverse face-lift this offseason to give the once flat, smooth surfaces more contours and character. Whatever was done worked well for Clarke, who became the third PGA Tour Champions golfer to win back-to-back events entered in this wraparound season. Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson are the others.

”To get my first win at Boca and then win again is certainly very gratifying,” Clarke said of his debut victory at Hualalai over the hard-luck Goosen, who had rounds of 62 and 64, and still lost. “The standard is so high out here. The guys can flat out play. I’ve been fortunate these past couple of tournaments.”

As gettable as the long holes are in this winners-only tournament, it’s how you play the other 14 that matters most. A bit of misfortune struck Clarke at 15, where his perfect drive landed in a sand divot. It resulted in an unsteady second shot that found the green-side bunker to the right that led to an overcooked third, leaving him 13 feet for par.

That putt tracked steady and true for a huge save. Buoyed by that effort, he closed with a 6-footer for birdie at the 16th, a birdie from 30 feet on 17 and a two-putt par from 15 feet at the last to shoot 30 on the closing half. He didn’t have a five on the card in his bogey-free round that included six birdies over his last nine holes.

Winner of this event in his inaugural try in 2017, Jerry Kelly closed with a 4-under 68 for a three-day total of 17-under 199. Two or three loose shots along the way, coupled with coming out of his putting stroke too quickly too often, left him alone in third.