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Clarke holds on for Open triumph

Published:Monday | July 18, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke kisses the Claret Jug trophy as he celebrates winning the British Open Golf Championship at Royal St George's golf course Sandwich, England, yesterday. - AP

SANDWICH, England (AP):

Another major goes to Northern Ireland. The surprise was Darren Clarke's name on the claret jug.

Ten years after he last contended in a major, no longer in the top 100 in the world, Clarke delivered his defining moment yesterday in the British Open when he held off brief challenges from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson to win golf's oldest championship.

The weather was so wild that heavy rain changed to sunshine, back and forth all afternoon, while the wind was relentless.

Clarke was a steady presence through it all.

A 20-foot eagle putt on the seventh hole gave him the lead for good, and he didn't drop a shot until it no longer mattered. With bogeys on the last two holes, Clarke closed with an even-par 70 for a three-shot victory over the two Americans.

"Pretty amazing right now," Clarke said, the claret jug at his side. "It's been a dream since I've been a kid to win the Open, like any kid's dream is, and I'm able to do it, which just feels incredible."

Northern Ireland had gone 63 years without a major. Now it has three of the last six - Graeme McDowell in the US Open last year at Pebble Beach, followed by Rory McIlroy at the US Open in a record performance last month at Congressional, and now the 42-year-old Clarke.

Never gave up

No one had ever gone more than 15 starts in the British Open until winning, and this was the 20th try for Clarke. Yet even as he struggled with his game and the adjustment of raising two boys without their mother, and as the spotlight shifted to youth, Clarke never gave up on his dreams.

"I always believed I would get myself back up here," he said before heading out to the 18th green to collect the oldest trophy in golf. "I always believed I had enough talent to challenge and win one."

Clarke won for the second time this year, he beat a weak field in Spain that was opposite The Players Championship, and goes to number 30 in the world. He had been number 111, the lowest-ranked player to win a major since Shaun Micheel in 2003 at the PGA.