TOUR SCENE:YOU'VE GOT to say it was worth the wait, most especially for the man himself. Tim Clark may have banked millions of greenbacks – nigh on €12 million, unbelievably – in his exasperating 12-year quest for a tournament win on the US Tour but to finally end that barren statistic by capturing the Players Championship, golf's unofficial fifth "major", made reaching the milestone all the sweeter.

Clark, a 34-year-old South African who’d previously shown an ability to win when playing on the European Tour (he captured the 2005 Scottish Open) and also on the Australian circuit, had been knocked back time and time again in his attempts to win on American soil, including no fewer than eight runner-up finishes in a CV that read like a bridesmaid’s diary.

Now, Clark – ranked only 173rd on the US Tour for driving distance but ranked third in accuracy and second in putting averages – has shed that tag of being a journeyman accumulating dollars while lacking the hard-nosed capacity to finish the job.

Now, he is very much a serious player; his win has moved him up to 20th in the official world rankings and he will move on to next month’s US Open at Pebble Beach with increased confidence.

Lee Westwood, though, will have to mend some mental wounds. Europe’s number one held the 36-hole and 54-hole leads but struggled in the final round at Sawgrass, eventually falling to a share of fourth after a 74.

In contrast, Clark finished with a 67 for 272, a stroke clear of runner-up Robert Allenby.

Westwood – who has finished third (British Open), third (US PGA) and second (US Masters) – in the last three majors, struggled with his game on Sunday and found only six of 14 fairways and only eight greens of 18 in regulation.

“I’m disappointed, but it is not something I am going to pull my hair out over . . . if you don’t play well, you don’t deserve to win. I just didn’t play well enough. It all needs fine-tuning. I’ll keep working on things, just trying to get a bit better for next time,” said Westwood, who has a week off before moving on to the BMW PGA Championship at the revamped West Course at Wentworth.

Ironically, Clark had spent the two weeks prior to Sawgrass barely touching his clubs, so disillusioned was he with the state of his game. Maybe there is a lesson to be learnt from that approach, but the South African also revealed he had a discussion with Australian Allenby – who has also struggled to close out tournaments – about the mindset required to win as the number of tournaments without a win piled up for Clark.

Of that heart-to-heart, Allenby recalled; “I said to him, ‘mate, you’ve just got to be patient. You’ve just got to keep putting yourself in there for a chance on the last day’ . . . . lo and behold, he beat me.”

Clark also remembered the locker-room chat. “I had a conversation with him (Allenby) and he’s dead right, you’ve just got to get out and continue to play, continue to try hard and hope it happens. Again, this may just be a big step for me. This one win could lead to others. It’s happened in the past where a guy has taken a long time to win and then one victory gives him the confidence to go ahead and win other tournaments,” he acknowledged.

One other thing which may have held Clark back was a lack of self-belief, as he had considered himself “fifth in the pecking order” when it came to South African golf’s hierarchy. “Ernie (Els) and Retief (Goosen) are guys I looked up to and still guys I look up to. Obviously, what Trevor (Immelman) has done winning the Masters (in 2008) was a huge thing for South African golf.

“To be honest, I never considered myself in that league. I guess maybe it’s a problem within me, but I didn’t think I hit it far enough (off the tee) to be a top player on the tour . . . . I’ve just got to go out there and play how I can play. Maybe this will show me that I can set my standards a little higher and from here on maybe try and achieve a little bit more.”

The Players may not be a major, but it comes right behind the four big ones. And Clark – winner of the Scottish Open, Australian Open and two South African Opens before closing the deal finally on the US Tour with his win at Sawgrass – was cognisant of its place in the great scheme of things.

“It’s definitely the biggest win I’ve had,” he said, “(but) no, behind the majors, this is the biggest tournament and the best field out there. You’re always going to look at the history of the majors and what not. But this is certainly, if there’s a number five, this is it.”