English

Noun

clutch artist ‎(plural clutch artists)

1. (idiomatic) A person who drives a motor vehicle, especially one equipped with a manual transmission, in a particularly skillful manner.^[1]
   • 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.

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

References

1. ↑ See "Clutch, in the" at The Word Detective (Oct. 7, 2008): At present, the only positive use of “clutch” I can find is the term “clutch artist,” a fairly rare term for a truck driver (referring to expertise with the “clutch” pedal).