Clutch Artist Meaning

(idiomatic, sports) A player who performs especially well in crucial situations.

Example: 1969, Hot Rod, vol. 22, p. 103:
  [O]n the highway or merely playing around a good dirt track, the engine exhibits loads of good low rmp torque and flexibility from scratch, but sink those tires in sand and you've got to be a real clutch artist.
2006 Jan. 25, Douglas E. Emerson, "On a personal note," douglasemerson.com (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  If you can drive a manual transmission, you have to be a clutch artist to handle brake, accelerator and clutch on an uphill start.
2013 May 5, EEMDRG, "Twin Turbos, Twice the Fun!," Drag Racer (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  Donnie’s used to finessing race cars, he was the clutch artist on Larry Miersch’s Huntington Beach, California-based A/Fuel dragster for five years.
1956 Oct. 28, Dave Campbell, "Trib classic: Baylor's 1st top-10 showdown," Waco Herald-Tribune (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  Roddy Osborne had set up the score with a 32-yard pass to "clutch artist" Don Watson.
2013 Feb. 15, Josh Hill, "NBA Rising Stars Challenge 2013: Team Chuck Or Team Shaq?," Fansided (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  Shaq has perhaps the next great point guard in the NBA in Cleveland Cavaliers clutch artist Kyrie Irving.
2014 June 3, Rob Winn, "Decisions Await The Blackhawks This Offseason," Chicagoist (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  The Chicago Blackhawks . . . will have a slew of decisions to make and contracts to sign. . . . [T]eam captain Jonathan Toews and designated clutch artist Patrick Kane need extensions.
2015 Jan. 10, "How Many NBA Playoff Spots Are Still Up for Grabs?," yackityyacksports.com (retrieved 3 March 2015):
  Joe Johnson is still a fourth-quarter clutch artist.