• Players Championship, Round Four

McDowell left to rue errors as Choi wins at Sawgrass

Graeme McDowell played 31 holes on the final day © PA Photos

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Graeme McDowell set himself up for one last push to win the Players Championship on Sunday, but he committed costly errors at crucial times to miss out after a 31-hole marathon on the final day.

Adverse weather had halted McDowell when he still had 13 holes of his third round to play on Saturday, so the Northern Irishman prepared himself for an early start at TPC Sawgrass. He initially coped well too, maintaining a score of 12-under to share the lead going into the final 18 holes. However, a finishing 79 saw him miss out by eight strokes on a disappointing five-under.

KJ Choi was the man to take advantage, clinching his first PGA Tour title for three years following a play-off with David Toms. The Korean relied upon his short game to counter a lack of accuracy off the tee and lift his eighth PGA Tour trophy, having tied with Toms on 13-under.

Choi thought he stolen it in regulation play when a birdie putt at the par-three 17th crept into the cup, but Toms responded on 18 to force the play-off. They returned to the famous 130-yard 17th, and when Choi's birdie attempt failed it left Toms with a putt for the Players Championship. The American rolled narrowly past the hole, and then crucially lipped out from five feet to allow Choi to clinch victory with his putt for par.

McDowell's final round started well when he made an enormous 50-foot birdie putt at the fifth to move to 13-under, but things began to unravel on the very next hole. Searching for extra length off the sixth tee, McDowell found trees, leading to a bogey.

The seventh was a similar story as McDowell again got his drive badly wrong, this time finding water. By the turn McDowell had conceded a third bogey, hooking his approach to the green into a bush, where he needed two attempts to dig the ball out. By now the Ryder Cup star was three strokes off the pace, a deficit that only grew as further bogeys arrived at 13, 15 and 18, in addition to a double-bogey at 17.

Nick Watney, who was joint overnight leader with McDowell, threatened to run away with things when he birdied the first three holes, but he too found difficulties down the back half of the front nine. Bogeys at eight, nine and 14 ended his hopes of adding the Players to his triumph at the WGC Cadillac Championship.

Luke Donald, who could have taken Lee Westwood's world No. 1 spot with victory this week, went into Sunday's play needing to close a four-stroke gap to the leaders. The Brit never threatened though, mixing birdies with bogeys as his putting failed to match his approach work. Wearing navy blue in honour of the late Seve Ballesteros, as did McDowell, Donald continued his inconsistent form on his way back to the clubhouse, signing for a one-under 71 to finish three strokes down on 10-under.

Martin Kaymer also could have usurped Westwood, but he too failed to register a challenge, completing his week with an even-par 72 to finish on seven-under, two ahead of world No. 4 Phil Mickelson.

Sergio Garcia, who was the first European to ever win golf's unofficial fifth major, sparked memories of his 2008 performance by propelling himself up the leaderboard with a seven-under 65. The Spaniard eagled the par-five 16th to finish on eight-under for the tournament.

Elsewhere, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter both signed for 73s to finish the week on two-under and one-over respectively.

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