FORT WORTH – Oh, the irony.

Pure jubilation might have caused Tim Clark to cannonball into the water around the 18th green had he gotten a chance at a playoff in the 2008 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. A Phil Mickelson "miracle" on 18 kept him dry, though, and he ended the tournament in a second-place tie.

This year he wanted to stay away from a 73rd hole at all costs. And he looked like he'd do that with a one-stroke lead and one hole left on the par 4 he parred Thursday and birdied Friday and Saturday. But he bogeyed after missing a 12-foot, 6-inch par putt to fall into a three-way playoff with Steve Stricker and Steve Marino at 17 under.

On the first extra hole, No. 18, all three players had birdie chances. But Clark's was by far the closest. Marino missed first from 31 feet. Stricker did the same from 17 feet. Clark had a seven-foot putt for the win, but pulled it to the left by 11 inches. Obviously distraught, having just missed out on a $1.1 million payday, the South African crept to the front of the green and buried his head in his sweat-stained cap.

Marino seemingly took himself out of contention when he found the left rough off the tee on the 17th, the second playoff hole. He later bogeyed. Clark and Stricker both lined the fairway with their tee shots, and Stricker played first. He drew monstrous cheers from the gallery when his second shot landed four feet from the cup. Clark followed by glancing his ball off the flag, which sounded great, but ended up doing more harm than good as it rolled 22 feet away back toward the front of the green.

Clark missed his birdie putt. Stricker didn't and won the tournament. It was another close call, another victory that wasn't to be. Clark's career earnings are $13,275,026, the most of any player without a victory.

"I saw how close Steven hit [to the flagstick], and I knew I had to do something like that as well," Clark said. "Bad break or not, the tournament should have ended on the first playoff hole. I didn't make a confident stroke, and I pulled it."

Clark maneuvered himself square in the hunt by posting a 7-under 63 on Thursday. He dropped one stroke Friday and two more Saturday to take a two-stroke lead into the final day for the third time in his career. It was his fourth top 10 finish in 12 tournaments this year and his 35th overall, which is the third-most all-time by a player without a victory. His 263 was the lowest four-round score of his career.

Tim Clark finished runner-up for the seventh time. He has amassed 35 top-10s in 184 career starts and is the highest-ranked player on the career money list (62nd) without a victory. He has the third-most top-10s among players without wins: