Bill Nichols

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FORT WORTH – Steve Stricker can feel Tim Clark's pain: Been there, done that, bro.

Stricker went six years without a victory, from the 2001 WGC Match Play to the 2007 Barclays. From 2001-05, he missed 47 cuts and posted only three top-10s.

He lost his card, contemplated quitting and then set out to rebuild his swing and career. He hunkered down in a trailer on the far end of the driving range at his home course near Madison, Wis., hitting balls to keep warm in the December chill.

On Sunday, he won the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in a playoff over Clark and Steve Marino. Clark, a six-time runner-up, lost the lead with bogey on the 72nd hole and then missed an 8-foot putt to win on the first extra hole.

He cried afterward – Stricker, that is.

It was only four years ago that he needed a sponsor's exemption to get into Colonial. His fifth victory, at 42, earned him a lifetime exemption and a spot on the prestigious Wall of Champions.

"I haven't forgot that," he said, struggling to get the words out during a news conference. "It's funny how it comes back around in a circle."

This one will haunt Clark for a while. Armed with loads of talent, the South African has done everything but win on the PGA Tour. He's got 35 top-10s in 184 starts. He has $13.3 million in earnings. But he doesn't have that one thing on which careers are judged.

On Saturday, after shooting 66 for a two-shot lead, Clark downplayed his shutout streak, saying, "That's not something that I really think about a lot."

On Sunday at "Hogan's Alley," 18 holes away from his career-defining moment, Clark received another kick in the pants from the golf gods.

He still led by one when he got to the 72nd hole. Known for hitting fairways, he yanked a 3-wood off into the trees on the left. He punched out, wedged on and two-putted for bogey. On 18 in the playoff, he hit driver down the center and then knocked his approach to 7 feet, 10 inches. Surely, this time his luck would change. Nope. His putt wobbled left before the cup.

So they went to 17. Stricker and Clark belted drives in the fairway, and Marino veered into the trees. Stricker's 8-iron shot landed three feet from the pin. Unfazed, Clark posed as his approach sailed at the flag. Unfortunately, his ball went exactly where he aimed. It clanged off the flagstick and rolled 22 feet away.

"No, I can't take anything positive from today," he said. "I have a lot of work to do when it comes to closing out golf tournaments. I saw how close Steve hit it, and I knew I had to do something like that as well. Bad break or not, the tournament should have ended on the first playoff hole. I didn't make a confident stroke and pulled it."

On this day, good fortune shined on Stricker. Seemingly out of the race after missing a short par putt on 16, he overshot the green on 17. Then he holed his birdie chip, pulling to within one of Clark.

Clark's loss was Stricker's gain.

"You need breaks to win out here, and I think that's why winning is so special," Stricker said. "Sometimes we take for granted what Tiger (Woods) has done, or what Phil (Mickelson) has done. They make it look fairly simple. For the average player out here, it's a very difficult thing to do. I remember trying to win my first event. I could relate to what Tim was trying to do."