Year-End Deal Great for Donald

The PGA Tour met closing time for 2005 on Sunday at Sherwood Country Club, where the Target World Challenge rang out the year and maybe even introduced a new star into the mix for 2006.

That would be Luke Donald, who came out of nowhere, which is your approximate location when you begin the final round six shots behind in a $5.5-million tournament, as Donald did, and still manage a victory. Donald, who turned 28 Wednesday, finished with an eight-under 64, beat Darren Clarke by two shots and earned $1.3 million.

Donald said he thought he had a chance when he started the day.

“The last round of the tournament, the last round of the year, who knows? If I shoot eight under I might have a chance,” the 28-year-old Englishman said.

He was entirely correct, but not until Clarke tripped up at the 537-yard 16th, the last par five on the course. Clarke had been 16 under on the par fives until then, but he missed the green to the left, his chip stayed in the rough, then he reached the green and two-putted for a bogey.

Clarke, from Northern Ireland, curtailed his after-hours social schedule this week, and he knew what went wrong, besides hitting the ball left almost all day.

“I should have gone out last night,” he said.

Donald had been tied with Clarke, but he took a one-shot lead at that point and it was enough.

He waited on the driving range to see if Clarke would birdie the last hole, but Clarke bogeyed it. And with that, the PGA Tour closed the books on 2005.

For Donald, whose only PGA Tour victory was in 2002, this was not the year he expected, but it all wasn’t that bad, either. He didn’t win an official event, but he did make $2.48 million, missed only one cut in 18 events, tied for third at the Masters and came close at Torrey Pines and the Players Championship (he had problems closing on both occasions).

Donald arrived at Sherwood from the NedBank Challenge tournament in South Africa with a headache and a cold, broke the face of his driver on the fifth hole Thursday, was three over through his first 10 holes and still found a way to win.

That’s not what happened at Torrey Pines, where he shot 73 on Sunday and tied for second. It’s not what happened at the Players Championship, where he tied for second with a 76 on Sunday.

“In a way, it has been a very satisfactory year,” he said. “I’ve been very, very consistent, only missed one cut. ... I’ve had a lot of tournaments where I had a chance to win, but I haven’t. That was the only frustrating part, really, just not quite closing the deal.

“But I’m learning from those and next year, once you win a couple times, it makes it a lot easier.”

Clarke’s 72, which featured no birdies the last 13 holes, might not have been what he wanted, but he still made $800,000 for his runner-up finish. Michael Campbell and Padraig Harrington closed with matching 73s and tied for third, worth $475,000.

As for tournament host Tiger Woods, he again had problems putting. He bogeyed three of the last four holes, closed with a 73 and wound up 14th in the 16-player field at two-under 286.

But Woods didn’t seem all that upset about his lack of success on the greens. At the 18th, after he smoked a three-wood down the middle of the fairway, Woods smiled thinly.

“One more iron and three more putts and I’m done for the year,” he said.

It had been a long week and a long year and he’s tired, Woods said. The last part of the year was taxing for Woods, beginning with the Tour Championship at Atlanta, embarking on a six-tournament stretch in six weeks, from Georgia to China to Japan to Hawaii to Palm Springs to Sherwood.

“This has been a long stretch,” he said. “I’ve been playing a lot of golf, putting on a lot of miles. My battery is just running a little low.

“I’m just putting the sticks away. I’m not going to touch them for a while.”

The off-season is going to be over almost as soon as it begins. The countdown began Sunday afternoon and ends Jan. 9 when the pros assemble again at Kapalua, Maui, for the Mercedes Championships.