Northern Ireland’s Clarke clinches British Open
|
Darren Clarke shook off the wind and the rain at Royal St George’s in south-east England to win the 2011 British Open for his first ever major championship at the 20th time of asking on Sunday.
The man from Dungannon a town of just over 11 thousand people in Northern Ireland won by 3 strokes for a 5 under par ahead of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson who tied for second.
In doing so the 42-year old Ulsterman lifted the coveted Claret Jug trophy and netted himself a cool US$1.45 million in prize money, in addition to $3.2 million from his sponsor.
A lover of the finer things in life including sports cars, imported cigars and not to mention his beloved Guinness, Clarke was on top overnight and never loosed his grip on the lead thanks to a short game that was checking all the boxes.
The only men who looked likely to haul down the consistent Clarke were two Americans: Dustin Johnson and Clarke’s close friend Phil Mickelson.
The 27-year-old Johnson who hits the ball further than most players dream of was let down by a bad choice on the 14th fairway. Two strokes off the lead and in need of a birdie to put the heat on Clarke, he pulled a 2-iron instead of a 3-wood and his ball ended up out of bounds. A double-bogey later and he was out of the running.
"It was brutal out there," said Johnson. “I hung in there all day, made some birdies on the back to get back in there and just unfortunately made the double-bogey on 14, which really just took all my momentum out."
Mickelson also let himself down, missing inexplicably from two feet at the 11th after he had come roaring out of the blocks with a front nine of 30 and a fine 20-foot eagle putt on the 7th.
In the end, it was the garrulous Clarke who maintained his consistency when others lost their heads. Birdying when needed, making par as required and even topping Mickelson with a 25-footer eagle on the 7th, the Irishman, who many critics thought was in the twilight of his career, showed them all and took his maiden title.
|
Back to news list