Expert Picks: Clutch performances of 2007
 
Nov. 9, 2007

More 2007 Reviews: Greatest moments | Best finishes | Surprises | Comeback players
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Best of '07 Videos: Bunker play | Eagles | More eagles | Target practice | Short game | Flat stick | Aces

Now that the 2007 PGA TOUR season is history -- and the inaugural FedExCup awarded to the game's No. 1 player, Tiger Woods -- our panel of experts wanted to take a look back at the best clutch performances of the historic year.

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T.J. Auclair
PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer
Pick:
Woody Austin's performance at The Presidents Cup
Relive it: Austin's Saturday both wet and wild | Video: Watch the splash
I was wondering where the emotional spark would come from for the U.S. Team at The Presidents Cup with the absence of Chris DiMarco. Woody Austin answered the call and provided the unforgettable dunk in the pond. At the beginning of the week, he seemed just happy to be there. By the end of the week, Austin proved to be one of the most solid performers.

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Brett Avery
The Fantasy Insider
Pick: Padraig Harrington's final round at the Open Championship
Relive it:
Ireland celebrates as Harrington ends drought | Video: Open Championship highlights
For a group of countries with a history of sporting brio as well as success, Great Britain and Ireland have a habit of resigning themselves to the hero bumbling the crucial moment in a play's last act. The fact that Padraig Harrington delivered the lines on cue and shut out every other contender at the Open Championship made for one of the year's best gut-check performances. Eight years without an Open winner from Europe, none from Ireland since 1947 -- heavy enough a burden without having to regroup for a playoff after a double bogey at Carnoustie's last hole. Sure, Sergio Garcia's last-day collapse (73) on an otherwise toothless course and Andres Romero's late crash and burn gave him an opening. But Harrington was the only guy who took one on the jaw and still came back strong for the encore.

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Lauren Deason
PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator
Pick: Mark Wilson wins a four-man playoff at The Honda Classic
Relive it:
Wilson Re-Mark-able in playoff | Video: Watch the splash
Think of what must have been going through Mark Wilson's head as he headed to the course on Monday morning at The Honda Classic to finish a four-man playoff with Camilo Villegas, Boo Weekley and Jose Coceres after darkness suspended play on Sunday. He'd called a two-stroke penalty on himself earlier in the week when his caddie unwittingly gave club information to Villegas and his caddie. Without that penalty, could he have won the tournament outright? A win would mean no more q-school, Wilson must have thought, the pressure-filled tournament he'd attended every year for a decade. And he was lucky to be in the playoff at all, considering he'd made a 45-foot putt for par on No. 16 and an 8-footer on the final hole in regulation to join the foursome. Then he rolled in a 30-footer to stay in overtime and a 10-footer to win. The pressure was on and the math major from the University of North Carolina knew the stakes but he was the epitome of clutch when it counted.

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Melanie Hauser
PGATOUR.com Correspondent
Pick: Mike Weir's Sunday performance at The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Weir gets a career boost | Video: Sunday Singles recap
His country's passion. A controversial -- if you believed the pre-tournament hype -- Captain's Pick. An electric performance on the final day of the Presidents Cup -- in his home country -- beating one Tiger Woods. The Americans had it wrapped up going into Sunday, but Weir played his youknowwhat off. A few weeks later, he cashed for the first time in more than three years.

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Dave Lagarde
PGATOUR.com Correspondent
Pick: Zach Johnson holds off Tiger Woods at The Masters
Relive it:
Sunday recap | Audio: Masters Interviews
Every time Zach Johnson selected a wedge on a par 5 at the 2007 Masters he hit a quality shot. His wedge play led to his first major championship -- despite the fact that the world's best closer, Tiger Woods, was nipping at his heels. How did Johnson win? He stuck to his game plan. He did not go for any par 5s in two all week, yet he played them 11-under par, the key stat in the tournament in which he finished level at 288.

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John Maginnes
PGATOUR.com Contributor
Pick: Angel Cabrera wins the U.S. Open
Relive it:
Sunday recap | U.S. Open multimedia
Angel Cabrera was the only man to break par at Oakmont twice. Furthermore, he held of Tiger Woods and Jim Furyk on the best major championship golf course that we have in the states. The approach shot that he hit to the 15th hole that nearly found the hole was one of the shots of the year. One of the beautiful things about this game is that it only takes four days to go from obscurity to famous. CabrCabreraved that in style at the U.S. Open.

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Helen Ross
PGATOUR.com Chief of Correspondents
Pick: Mike Weir's performance in The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Weir gets a career boost | Video: Sunday Singles recap
Picked by International Captain Gary Player, Mike Weir came home to Canada carrying the hopes of a nation on his slight shoulders. He turned out to be the leading point-getter for his team in a losing effort at The Presidents Cup, though, and his victory over Tiger Woods in Singles galvanized the nation. It did wonders for his confidence, too, as Weir won three weeks later.

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Dave Shedloski
PGATOUR.com Senior Correspondent
Pick: Woody Austin rebounds from his dip at The Presidents Cup
Relive it:
Austin's Saturday both wet and wild | Video: Watch the splash
This goes to Woody Austin again. He fell in the water at No. 14 during his Friday Four-Ball match with David Toms, but by the 15th he was dry and starting on No. 16 he caught fire with birdies on the last three holes to register a spirit-sapping halve against Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman. "That was all funny and adds to his legacy," Toms said, "but the way he finished up, birdieing last three holes, that was pretty impressive stuff ... one of the gutsiest things I've seen in golf."