Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. — In a wacky week at The Players Championship, where a rowdy spectator was subdued by a Taser and the world's No. 1 player withdrew with a neck injury with 12 holes left, perennial runner-up Tim Clark finally broke through for his first PGA Tour win.

In his 206th start on Tour, the scrappy, 5-7 South African came up big on the Tour's biggest stage with a bogey-free 67, the lowest score on a sun-splashed Sunday when wind, firm conditions and lightning greens at the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass conspired to send scores soaring to an average of 74.18. Davis Love III was the only other player to break 70.

Clark finished at 16-under-par 272, one shot ahead of Robert Allenby. Lucas Glover, with a late charge that included a 48-foot birdie on the 17th hole, finished third. Lee Westwood, the overnight leader, made double bogey on the 17th en route to a 74 and a tie for fourth...

Tim Clark wins The Players to claim his first PGA Tour title

TV commentators were critical Sunday, even mocking, in their tone after Tiger Woods withdrew from The Players Championship citing a neck injury.

The most questionable comment came from part-time ESPN analyst Paul Azingeron Twitter. First, he tweeted, "Tiger withdraws because of pain in the neck."

Then he followed up: "Could this have been prevented with a good Swedish massage?"

(Woods' wife, Elin, is Swedish.)

ESPN spokeswoman Crystal Howard said: "Paul has a great deal of respect for Tiger and his family and is enjoying social networking. We'll leave it up to his followers on Twitter to decide how to react to his tweets."

Azinger will work ABC's British Open coverage again this summer, she added...

Woods takes heat after dropping out

Tiger Woods hit his second shot on the seventh hole Sunday, walked to the middle of the fairway to shake playing partner Jason Bohn's hand and withdrew from The Players Championship.

When he'll return to the golf course is anyone's guess.

Woods, who said he felt a tingling sensation down his right arm and into his fingers, said he might have a bulging disk in his upper back and will have an MRI this week. He said he first felt the injury before the Masters.

"I've been playing with a bad neck for quite a while," Woods said. "I don't know (what caused the injury). I know playing doesn't help it. Setting up over the ball is fine, but once I start making the motion, it's downhill from there."...

Woods withdraws from Players; might have bulging disk

Anthony Kim saw a hand specialist Tuesday, had surgery on his left thumb Wednesday and is expected to miss 10 to 12 weeks. That would mean Kim, who won the Shell Houston Open this season and tied for fourth at the Masters, will miss the U.S. Open and possibly the British Open.

Kim, who pulled out of The Players Championship on Tuesday, had the surgery in Baltimore. Thomas Graham, chief of the National Hand Center, performed the surgery and said Kim suffered a partial tear of his ligament several months ago. Last week at the Quail Hollow Championship, Kim said the injured thumb was leading to other injuries, especially in his right shoulder, as he tried to compensate for the pain.

Anthony Kim has surgery on left thumb, will miss U.S. Open

CHARLOTTE — The Boy Wonder is now a winner on the PGA Tour.

With a brilliant weekend of 66 Saturday and a course-record 62 Sunday, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy blew past a stellar field to win the Quail Hollow Championship, four shots better than four-time major winner and reigning Masters champion Phil Mickelson and five shots better than two-time major champion Angel Cabrera.

McIlroy, who turns 21 on Tuesday, needed an eagle late in his round on Friday to make the cut on the number, then became the youngest player to win on the PGA Tour since Tiger Woods won in 1996 at Disney at age 20.

McIlroy was 16 under par for the weekend, which broke that tournament record by seven shots.

He closed with a back-nine 30 Sunday punctuated with a 5-iron from 206 yards to 3 feet for eagle at the 15th, a 7-iron from 167 yards out of a fairway bunker to 5 feet for a birdie on 16 and a 42-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

"I didn't feel a 62 was coming, but I felt as if my game was definitely getting a lot better. The 66 (Saturday) was probably the worst I could have shot. I gave myself so many chances. I had five eagle putts," McIlroy said. "And today I just carried on from there. The last two days it seemed as if everything had just gone right. You get yourself into sort of a mind-set like that, and you just keep going."

With an aching back on the mend — he missed his last two cuts, including at the Masters — McIlroy lived up to his billing as the next superstar in golf. The buzz the past two years was coming from his peers.

"He's an amazing talent," Mickelson said. "You knew he was going to come out here and win, because he's won all over the world."

Ireland's Padraig Harrington, a three-time major champion, stayed around after his round to congratulate McIlroy. Harrington said the win by McIlroy will ease pressure on the youngster back home in Northern Ireland.

"It's a big deal for him to come over here and start winning over here. He wasn't contending, wasn't winning. (A win) makes it a lot easier for him going forward, and I think it could make a big difference to his career," Harrington said. "He'll be a lot more comfortable in who he is."

On a stifling day at Quail Hollow Club, McIlroy closed his front nine with three consecutive birdies, added another on the 11th, and then finished 5 under on his final five holes.

"To go out there and make as many birdies the way the golf course was set up, it gives me a lot of confidence," McIlroy said. "I knew I was playing pretty good. To be honest, I didn't get much out of my rounds on Thursday and Friday, but obviously I made up for it on the weekend."

There was no weekend in Charlotte for Tiger Woods, who matched the worst nine-hole score of his PGA Tour career and wound up with a 7-over 79 to miss a cut for only the sixth time in 241 tournaments as a professional...

Rory McIlroy earns first PGA Tour victory in style

CHARLOTTE - Finally, all the talk about Tiger Woods (FSY) was mostly about his golf.

And it was more bad news.

In a shocking meltdown Friday at the Quail Hollow Championship, Woods missed the cut for only the sixth time in his career with a performance that was incomparable for all the wrong reasons.

He shot a 79, his worst score on American soil as a pro and the second-highest of his career. He matched his highest score on nine holes with a 43 on the back nine, and that was with three solid pars on the tough closing stretch. His 36-hole score of 153 was the highest in his 14 years on the PGA Tour.

Tiger Woods misses the cut at Quail Hollow Championship

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida (AP) — Tiger Woods (FSY) added two more tournaments Wednesday to a schedule that is not much different from previous years except for the timing.

Woods entered The Players Championship and the AT&T National, which benefits his foundation.

It was the second straight week that Woods made an early commitment to a PGA Tour event, allowing for more time to promote his appearance. For years, the world's No. 1 player waited until the last few days before signing up.

Last week, Woods beat the deadline by eight days for entering the Quail Hollow Championship, which starts April 29. He signed up for The Players Championship, which starts May 6, nine days ahead of the deadline...

Woods enters Players Championship, AT & T National