Darren Clarke Archives - Golf Digest Middle East

Clarke, Jimenéz and Olazábal announced for ISPS HANDA Senior Open

Golf Digest Middle East — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 10:50:27 +0000

Former ISPS HANDA Senior Open winners Darren Clarke and Miguel Angel Jimenéz and two-time Masters Tournament champion José María Olazábal are the latest stars confirmed for this year’s Championship, which returns to Sunningdale next month, from July 24-27.

Some of golf’s most renowned names are set to tee it up on the Old Course when Europe’s only Senior Major returns to the famed Berkshire venue. Sunningdale will host the ISPS HANDA Senior Open for the fourth time in its history, following on from 2009, 2015 and 2021.

The trio join defending champion K.J. Choi, record 12-time Senior Major Champion Bernhard Langer, Major Champions Pádraig Harrington and Ernie Els and European legends Colin Montgomerie and Thomas Bjørn in what promises to be a star-studded field.

Darren Clarke understandably was smiling after becoming just the fourth golfer to win the Open and Senior Open as he wins the Senior Open at Gleneagles. Mark Runnacles

In 2022, Clarke became the fourth player to win both The Open and The Senior Open when he triumphed at Gleneagles, finishing one stroke ahead of Pádraig Harrington. Clarke won The Claret Jug at Royal St George’s in 2011, becoming the first Northern Irish winner of The Open in more than 60 years.

The 56-year-old finished third the last time the Senior Open was held at Sunningdale, just two strokes behind eventual winner Stephen Dodd.

“I’m very proud to have won both The Open and The Senior Open and I’m very much looking forward to going back to Sunningdale this Summer,” said Clarke. “It’s fantastic that the Senior Open gives us the opportunity to play on a number of the best courses in the country and the Old Course at Sunningdale is certainly a worthy test.”

Miguel Angel Jimenéz lifted the trophy in 2018.

Jiménez claimed The Senior Open trophy in style in 2018 as he triumphed on the Old Course at St Andrews. It was his second Senior Major Championship and earlier this month he won his 16th title on PGA TOUR Champions at the Principal Charity Classic. He was runner-up to Dodd four years ago at Sunningdale.

“The Senior Open is a very special event to me and I’m so proud to call myself a winner of the Championship,” said Jiménez. “I’ve been wanting to go back to Sunningdale since my runner-up finish there a few years ago and I’m hopeful I can go one better in a few weeks’ time.”

José María Olazábal captured the Masters on two occasions.

Olázabal, who won the Masters Tournament in 1994 and 1999, will be making his eighth appearance at The Senior Open. The Spaniard formed a formidable Ryder Cup partnership with the legendary Seve Ballesteros as they returned 12 points from 15 matches together across four editions. He went on to captain Europe in 2012 as he masterminded the Miracle at Medinah, seeing his side overturn a four-point deficit on the final day to win 14½ – 13½.

“I’m excited to return to Sunningdale next month,” said Olazábal. “The Senior Open is a great event and one which we all look forward to playing in.”

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LIV Golfer gets hole at Open Championship venue named after him

Harry Grimshaw — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 11:10:36 +0000

Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland has added a special touch to its historic layout by naming two of its golf holes after a duo of the country’s most successful golfers, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke.

McDowell, the 2010 US Open champion and three-time Ryder Cup winner, has been part of the LIV Golf circuit since its inception in 2022 and is now based in Florida, while Clarke resides at the Abaco Club in The Bahamas.

Graeme McDowell – Smash GC – LIV Golf Nashville

The connection between McDowell and Royal Portrush will always run deep, and this bond was strengthened when a hole on the club’s Valley Links course was named after him. As reported by BBC Sport Northern Ireland, McDowell shared his delight about the announcement.

“When one of the committee (members) at Royal Portrush reached out to me, and said they would like to name a hole after me, obviously it was a great honour and I was very proud,” McDowell said.

“It definitely means a lot to me and I look forward to getting back over to there this summer and have a look.

“The piece of turf that is now the new 7th hole on The Valley course, I used to spend many of my young days walking up and down that piece of turf practising, hitting a lot of balls. What they’ve done there, it looks amazing and it’s going to be a spectacular hole. Very proud to have it named after me and my family, and I look forward to playing it.”

Graeme McDowell at Royal Portrush in 2019

McDowell, as of yet, isn’t in the field for this year’s Open Championship. But the 45-year-old is focusing on securing his place at the men’s final major of the year through various qualifying tournaments, starting with the Asian Tour’s International Series Macau next month. An event that offers three qualifying spots for the Open.

“It’s extremely important to me [to qualify],” said McDowell, whose last professional win came in February 2020 at the Saudi International on the DP World Tour in Saudi Arabia.

"I want my kids to see me out there. No more pulling up YouTube videos." @Graeme_McDowell opens up after his his first win on Tour in five and a half years.#SaudiIntlGolf pic.twitter.com/3pzVkG2GD9

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 2, 2020

“I’ve got a busy enough six months coming up but the major championships remain the most important events in the world.

“I’ve done all I can in the past three or four years to qualify for the Open and the US Open via the different routes and with the Open being at Portrush this year, it cranks up the intensity a little bit higher for me.

“I’m looking all over the world to see where there might be an opportunity and trying to go that extra mile to try and get into that tournament.”

Darren Clarke kisses the claret jug following his victory at the 2011 Open at Royal St. George’s – Streeter Lecka

As for Clarke, the 2011 Open champion, he expressed his pride in joining an elite group of golfers with holes named after them at Royal Portrush, “To join such a distinguished list is very very special.

“To be able to have my name on one of the holes going forward is just an amazing honour.”

Main Image: Charles McQuillan/R&A

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Major champion Darren Clarke is out to prove a little something more to himself

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 24 Jul 2023 14:45:19 +0000

Darren Clarke. Mark Runnacles

Walk into the clubhouse at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and just about the first things you see are two trophies on proud display. One is instantly recognisable, the other is similar but distinct. Sitting alongside a replica of the Open Championship claret jug Darren Clarke won at Royal St George’s in 2011 is another not quite the same, this time commemorating the native son’s victory in the Senior Open at Gleneagles a year ago.

“Winning the Senior Open last year ranks pretty high on my list of achievements,” says Clarke, who this week will defend his title at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. “I really wanted to complete the pair if you like. And when you set a goal then actually achieve it, it’s a pretty nice feeling. I’m not sure where the Senior Open ranks exactly, maybe just behind my two World Golf Championships. All I can say is it meant a lot to me.”

One thing not working in Clarke’s favour at Porthcawl will be local knowledge. Although rightly renowned for his prowess on courses adjacent to oceans, the 54-year-old has not seen what’s universally acclaimed as Wales best links since 1989. Back then, Clarke was a member of the six-man Irish team that failed to defend its title in the European Amateur Team Championship. Although Clarke and his compatriots finished second in the stroke-play section of the competition, Scotland proved too good for them in the match-play semi-final. In the end, Ireland had to settle for third place.

“That’s a long time ago, but I remember it well,” says Clarke, whose best finish since beating fellow Irishman Padraig Harrington by a shot at Gleneagles a year ago is a tie for second in the PGA Tour Champions’ Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai back in January. “And I’ve heard nothing but good reports about how the course is looking now. It’s just a really good venue and a proper test of every aspect of the game.”

Clarke appreciates the fact he’s often considered a favourite when he’s playing in a big event on a links course. “That’s my favourite form of the game,” he said. “But I’m going through a spell at the moment where I go to the range and flush every shot. Then I go to the putting green and make just about everything. Then I go on the course and it’s just not happening, which is frustrating. And it’s golf. And I know it’s a stage that usually leads to playing well. I’d be more worried if I wasn’t hitting good shots on the range and not making putts in practice.”

Clarke will arrive at Porthcawl on the back of a missed cut in the Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. Rounds of 73 and 77 added up to five shots too many for the former champion to make the cut. All in all, the two days he spent in the company off Thomas Pieters and Victor Perez was a frustrating experience, much as Clarke enjoyed the company and chat of the younger men. The passing years, however, are no friends of any golfer.

“I’m shorter off the tee than I was at the top of my game,” Clarke says. “But not a lot shorter. I seem to struggle mentally more than I did. I’m still winning on the Champions Tour, so I can still play. But my mind wanders sometimes. And I still try too hard. I still beat myself up too much. I can’t help myself. I so want to play well I get in my own way sometimes. I hit a couple of shots I shouldn’t hit, and I struggle to put those behind me. And the putter is cold at the minute, too. If I short-side myself, chip to six-feet and miss the putt, it’s like: ‘Here we go again.’”

All of which sounds more than familiar to long-time Clarke watchers. As well as he has done throughout his career, the recurring thought is that, with a little more tolerance of his own shortcomings, he could, would and should have won more often.

“I haven’t changed,” he admits. “Although I am a little more understanding and a little bit calmer than I was. It’s the old story: I love the game and I hate the game. But I still know how to get it done when I get a chance. Coming down the stretch last year was so much fun. Padraig put in a very strong finish, and I knew what I had to do. There was no coasting in. I had to birdie the last hole and I did, which was the most satisfying part of it.”

Still, the differences between Royal Liverpool and Royal Porthcawl are, at least where Clarke is concerned, more than marked. Both mentally and physically, it is a contrast he is well aware of.

“What was interesting last week was the location of the bunkers,” he says. “On the Champions Tour, I find I can carry most of the fairway bunkers, bunkers others struggle to reach. That situation was reversed at Hoylake. Victor and Thomas were flying bunkers I was struggling to reach. I still found a few of them though. I have no ego problems when I go to the Open now though. The only disappointment was what I shot, especially on the second day. If I thought I was going to do that, I wouldn’t have gone.”

That’s not to say Clarke lacks ambition. Given his state of play, he’s not so much over the hill as still having a bit to go before reaching the top.

“I’m going to Porthcawl to win,” he says. “Yes, I’ll have to hit the ball better than I did at Hoylake. Yes, I’ll need to putt better. But if I do those things I’ll be right there in contention. A decent week on the greens will give me a chance.”

Fighting talk. Let’s hope Royal Portrush has room for one more trophy.

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Senior Open Championship: Darren Clarke gets win he most desired in wet finish at Gleneagles

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 05:40:52 +0000

By John Huggan
It remains to be seen what Darren Clarke will come up with to celebrate the year 2033. For now, though, it is enough to know that the burly Northern Irishman has added the 2022 Senior Open title to his 2011 Open Championship victory. Closely challenged by a sizeable squad of regular and senior major winners, Clarke’s closing 69 over the endlessly picturesque King’s Course at Gleneagles was just enough to see off all-comers and claim the $432,080 first-place cheque.

Irishman Padraig Harrington shot a 67 to push Clarke all the way, but he was one shot shy — and one shot clear of a six-strong pack including Ernie Els, Steve Alker and Paul Broadhurst in third place.

It took a bit longer to than normal to sort out all of the above though. Clarke’s 72-hole aggregate of 10-under 270 was achieved only after a two-hour delay caused by torrential rain late on Sunday evening. Nine-under and standing on the 14th fairway when play was halted, Clarke (eventually) failed to birdie the almost-drivable par 4 and gave fresh hope to the pushing pack. And soon enough, they took advantage. Within minutes, Alker (at the 15th), Thongchai Jaidee (16th), Els (18th) and Harrington (17th), the recent US Senior Open champion, all made birdies to advance their respective causes.

Significantly, however, only Harrington, who made a second birdie on the par-5 closing hole, did enough to get to Clarke’s nine-under. But it wasn’t really enough. Not quite. When (as more rain poured down) the burly Northern Irishman made a 4 of his own at the 18th, two-putting from long range, he created the edge he needed to become only the fourth man after Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson to complete the Open and Senior Open double.

That fact clearly meant a lot.

“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I wanted to win this more than anything after I turned 50,” said Clarke, which he did in August 2018. “As a kid I wanted to win the Open Championship. As a senior, this was always the one for me. This trophy will look good sitting beside the other one. I’m humbled and privileged to have my name on both alongside some legends of the game.”

He's done the double! @DarrenClarke60 wins The #SeniorOpen Presented by @ROLEX pic.twitter.com/m02iHvqPPz

— Legends Tour (@euLegendsTour) July 24, 2022

And the conditions? Not a problem for an Ulsterman.

“I grew up playing in stuff like this,” Clarke said. “It doesn’t make it any easier though. It was a battle. Pars were a bit of a prisoner out there. But I was cruising until I made a terrible swing on the 10th. All of sudden, an easy birdie became a bad bogey. I hit some good shots from there, but the putter was a bit cold. I didn’t hole much of any note. but getting down in two putts from 70-odd feet on the last was obviously pleasing. It was the percentage play, even if the two-footer I had left still had to be knocked in.”

One thing Clarke will not be doing is repeating the all-night celebration in the wake of his Open triumph 11 years ago, one that saw him turn up for a Monday morning press conference somewhat the worse for wear. “This trophy doesn’t hold as much,” he said with a smile.

Of the challengers, Harrington will have most cause for regret. The two-time Open champion struck the ball with his usual authority but missed an awful lot of makable putts, most of them for birdies. And eagles. Two in his last five holes to be precise, at the 14th and the fateful last.

Clarke though has every right to be pleased with himself. This was a performance of the highest class in trying circumstances and against a chasing pack containing, at various times in the final round, as many as seven major champions, both regular and senior.

One last thing. The winning score even had a touch of irony about it. The last time Clarke played 72-competitive holes over the King’s Course was in the 1994 Scottish Open. Back then, he also shot 270, good enough for only a T-5 finish. Things in golf do change, some of them for the better.”

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Senior Open: Paul Broadhurst and Darren Clarke set for final day battle at Gleneagles

Matt Smith — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 08:34:25 +0000

By Matt Smith
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke birdied the last to join Paul Broadhurst at the top of the leaderboard ahead of the final round of the Senior Open at Gleneagles.

The 53-year-old entered the third round with a two-stroke lead but, despite giving himself chances, could only post a one-under 69 as England’s Broadhurst went three strokes better to share the lead on nine-under.

The Englishman, who won the Senior Open in 2016, responded to a bogey at the 12th with a trio of birdies from the 13th to card his four under round of 66 and put the pressure on Clarke with the rain getting heavier as the day went on.

Clarke dropped back-to-back shots on the 12th and 13th but steadied the ship to par his way in before his closing birdie ensured he would take a share of the lead into the final round where he will bid to add The Senior Open trophy to the Claret Jug he won in 2011.

The duo is one stroke clear of New Zealand’s Steven Alker and American Jerry Kelly, both Senior Major Champions, who share third place on eight-under. Eight-time European No. 1 Colin Montgomerie is the leading Scotsman in a share for fifth place on six-under, alongside Australian Stuart Appleby, Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and major champions Ernie Els and Pádraig Harrington.

Four-time Senior Open winner Bernhard Langer is a shot further back in a tie for 10th place alongside South Africa’s James Kingston.

“I’ve gone out there and I’ve played nicely all day,” said Clarke. “I’ve given myself chance after chance. I’ve hit good putts. They just haven’t gone in. I’ve hit 17 greens leading the tournament and played lovely. At least one decided to go in at the last.

“Everybody has practised and we got some rain today and I lost my speed. It was difficult with the moisture but it’s the same for everybody.

The 2011 Open champion added: “It would be pretty cool to have both of them sitting beside each other, you know what I mean. I would love to win the Senior Open as well as the main Open.

“Tomorrow I give myself an opportunity again. I did it last year, and I gave myself an opportunity. Felt like I didn’t quite play well enough on the Sunday. Doddy came through and played great. Hopefully hit a couple more putts and give myself a better chance coming down the last few holes.”

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Classy Darren Clarke claims Senior Open lead at Gleneagles

Matt Smith — Sat, 23 Jul 2022 09:34:23 +0000

By Matt Smith
Darren Clarke once again turned on the style on the back nine to post a three under par round of 67 and take a two-stroke lead into the weekend of the Senior Open.

The Northern Irishman leads on eight-under at Gleneagles, two strokes clear of American Scott Parel, after four back-nine birdies saw him set the target before the temperature dropped in the afternoon and made it difficult for anyone to challenge his lead.

The 2011 Open Champion made the turn in one-over after bogeys at the second and seventh sandwiched a birdie at the fourth, before going on to mirror his back nine from the opening day with birdies at the 10th, 14th, 15th and 18th.

Clarke, who has three wins on the PGA TOUR Champions since turning 50, is in pole position to claim his first Senior Major Championship with two rounds to play, but he will need to fend off a star-studded leaderboard if he is to become only the fourth man to win both The Open Championship and The Senior Open.

Fellow former Champion Golfers of the Year Ernie Els and Pádraig Harrington, who will also bid to join Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson in completing the historic double, are three strokes back in a share for third place on five-under, alongside four-time Senior Open Champion Bernhard Langer, 2016 winner Paul Broadhurst, American duo Kent Jones and Jerry Kelly, Canadian Stephen Ames and South African David Frost.

“Around the front nine today, I was so-so,” said Clarke. “I slipped. My right foot slipped a couple of times. But apart from that, I played really nicely. I’m trying to hit a lot of fairways and give myself decent looks. All the way around the back nine, I kept hitting nice shots. And could have been a few better. But, you know, it’s the way it is.

“There’s a few flags that were out there today as well that you just cannot go after. You’ve got to hit away from those as well. So they’re a little bit linksy as well.

“With the fairways being as good as they are, as tight as they are, you can really nip one. I got a little bit too much spin on the second shot into 17. But if you’re striking the ball, you can still spin it quite a bit.

“So it gives you opportunity. If you keep it in the fairway around here, you can score. But if you start missing the fairways, it’s going to be a struggle because you’re playing for fliers and the ball is releasing as much, you never know how far or short of the green or whatever. But the fact is so far I’ve done a decent job to get them on the fairways.”

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Glen Day earns share of Senior Open lead at Gleneagles despite losing clubs

Matt Smith — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 06:37:23 +0000

By Matt Smith
Unheralded American Glen Day eagled the last hole to take a share of the Senior Open lead, despite playing with a new set of clubs after his failed to arrive from the United States.

The American converted an eight-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole of the King’s Course to post a six-under round of 64 and join Stephen Ames at the top of the leaderboard at Gleneagles, following the Canadian’s bogey-free target-setter earlier in the day.

Day’s closing eagle was the final stroke of a red-hot putting performance, for which he credited countryman Wes Short Jnr following a pre-tournament putting lesson in Perthshire after a period of struggle on the greens.

The leading duo are one stroke clear of a star-studded chasing pack, including past winner Paul Broadhurst, 2011 Open Champion Darren Clarke, 2020 Senior Players winner Jerry Kelly and Kent Jones, of the United States, who progressed through a play-off in Monday Qualifying to book his spot at Gleneagles.

Three-time major champ Pádraig Harrington enjoyed a positive start to his Senior Open debut with a four-under 66, leaving him in a share of seventh place alongside six others, including fellow debutant and 2010 BMW PGA Champion Simon Khan and two-time Champion Golfer of the Year Ernie Els.

“I putted great,” said Day. “I really have to, I’ve got to give some credit to Wes Short. We are staying together this week and he gave me a little putting lesson, and for the first time, I made a lot of putts today, so that was it.

“We played late obviously. No wind. Very rarely have I ever played over here, been this calm and easy. So yeah, they are there, but you have to hit good shots. If you hit good shots and make putts, good things happen.

“I have nothing with me. I didn’t even get my golf clubs. I had to get another set of clubs, and this is a new putter and a driver that I didn’t hit very well. Everything is — no. I have no reason to believe I would play good today.”

Harrington added: “I’m happy with that score. I was very tentative. I putted well and my putter saved me most of the day.”

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Darren Clarke rallies to win for the third time in this PGA Tour Champions season

Golf Digest Middle East — Mon, 20 Sep 2021 01:55:44 +0000

Alex Goodlett

By John Strege
PGA Tour Champions events are only 54 holes, often resulting in dramatic finishes, and Darren Clarke provided one in the Sanford International at Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Sunday.

Clarke holed a birdie putt of more than 60 feet on the 18th green that enabled him to join Steve Flesch and K.J. Choi in a playoff that he won on the second extra hole with another birdie. The victory was the first for the Northern Irishman since he won the Mitsubishi Electric Championship in January and the third of the extended senior tour season that includes 2020 tournaments.

Clarke shot a five-under par 65 in the final round that allowed him to overcome a four-stroke deficit to the leader Choi, who had a 69. They, along with Flesch, completed 54 holes in 12-under par 198.

“It’s nice to win again,” Clarke said. “I won at the end of last year in Boca and then the first tournament this year in Hawaii, so it’s been a little bit of time since then. It’s nice to get back in the winner’s circle again. In the playoff you never know what’s going to happen, anybody can make birdie and luckily it was my day today.”

Flesch was eliminated on the first playoff hole, the 18th, by making a bogey five. Clarke and Choi returned to the 18th hole, the second of the playoff, and Clarke won with a birdie, while Choi hit a tree left of the fairway with his tee shot, taking birdie out of play.

“I’ve been working so hard,” Clarke said. “I had a chance at the one that I really, really wanted in the middle of the summer there, the British Senior Open, and didn’t quite get it done. It’s nice then to come along to win again. I have two weeks off down in Abaco [the Bahamas], down-home. Sit in front of my TV, I’ll watch every shot of the Ryder Cup, I’ll really enjoy it, and I may have a beer or two to go along with it.”

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Darren Clarke debunks one myth about his 2011 win at St. George’s, revels in another

Golf Digest Middle East — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:44:33 +0000

Quinn Harris
Darren Clarke is back at Royal St. George’s for the first time since his Open victory in 2011.

By John Huggan
SANDWICH, England — He was trying to hit some balls on the range, but wasn’t having much success in that department. At Royal St. George’s for the first time since he won the Open Championship here in 2011, Darren Clarke was too busy talking to just about everybody who passed to focus on the swing that carried him to victory a decade ago. Not that he seemed too concerned. Always one of the more social animals on any tour, the Northern Irishman was clearly enjoying himself. Which is appropriate. Ten years on from his infamously inebriated press conference the morning after the biggest win of his career, Clarke was just glad to be back.

“I take credit for the fact that no Open champion has held a similar press conference since,” he said with a broad smile. “[R&A chief executive] Martin Slumbers told me I killed it. But what can I say? This is the Open Championship, the biggest and best event in the world. It’s the one I’ve always looked forward to, even before I won. And to come back to where I actually did win is very special.”

Clarke arrived in England on Monday, he and his wife passengers on Ernie Els’ plane after playing last week’s U.S. Senior Open (he finished T-28). A COVID test followed, which kept him away from the course, but Clarke did find time to do a bit of “sight-seeing” on a drive past the house that hosted the all-night party that preceded the aforementioned press conference.

Still with more serious matters ahead over the coming days, Clarke was quick to emphasize that his form has been good, as his two victories on this year’s PGA Tour Champions underlines. His familiarity with links golf is another factor in his favor, albeit the last time he played by the seaside on this side of the pond was at Royal Portush exactly two years ago. Indeed, he hasn’t seen his home in Northern Ireland since November 2019.

“The restrictions are part of that obviously, but my life is on the Champions Tour now,” Clarke said. “I’ve generally been playing pretty well. There’s been a few bad weeks in there too, which led me to try a few new things and tweak a couple of others. I’ve gone down a few rabbit holes. But that’s nothing new. I don’t think I’ll ever change in that respect.

“Playing on the Champions Tour is a lot like playing on the PGA Tour,” he continued. “Just not quite the same. The big difference is that the tournaments are generally 54 holes. So you have to get after it right from the start. Every week is a sprint, and your course management has to change to reflect that. If you shoot level par on the first day you’re out of the tournament.”

David Cannon/R&A
After Clarke closed out his win, the Sunday night/Monday morning celebration was awfully memorable.

Legend has it that such a fate almost befell Clarke even before his opening-round 68 at St. George’s in 2011. So bad was his form that he walked in from one practice round. Or so the story goes. But, as ever, the folklore doesn’t quite represent the full story.

“I hear people say that I was playing badly early in the week,” said Clarke, who has Sandy Armour, grandson of 1931 Open Champion, Tommy, on his bag here. “But that’s not true. I was not playing badly; I was putting badly. I had won in Majorca maybe a month before the Open. And the week before in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, I flushed it all week. But I had a poor last day. What saved me here was spending some time with [psychologist] Bob Rotella on the Wednesday afternoon. He cleared my head.”

When it comes to the week ahead, Clarke wasn’t giving away too many specifics about what would represent success. But he certainly doesn’t see playing on the Champions Tour as a diminution of his competitive instincts, or a disadvantage at a major-championship level.

“There are a lot of misconceptions,” he said. “I don’t look at this week as me playing against a different level of competition. Many people seem to think we are playing short courses with the pins in the middle of every green. Not so. Most of the places we play are between 7,100- and 7,200-yards long. Maybe our pins are five off the left edge when the PGA Tour is only four. Our greens run 12-13 on the Stimpmeter ever week. And the players work really hard. The scoring reflects that. The standard is really high. I know I have to make the most of my window of opportunity in senior golf. It’s been nice to win a couple of times. I’m still working my arse off. Nothing changes there.”

Yes, yes, but what would be the ideal scenario come Sunday afternoon?

“My realistic goal is to play decent, enjoy myself and hopefully get a walk up the 18th fairway on the final day, no matter what position I’m in,” Clarke said. “Links golf requires a little bit of experience and guile. I have both of those qualities. But we’ll see. There’s no reason why I can’t have a good week. It’s just nice to be back as an Open champion.”

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Darren Clarke rolls to victory in his second straight PGA Tour Champions start

Golf Digest Middle East — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 06:19:38 +0000

Tracy Wilcox

By John Strege
It wasn’t momentum that Darren Clarke was riding, though on Sunday he won his second straight PGA Tour Champions start, the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai on Hawaii’s Big Island.

Clarke, 52 and not, shall we way, in fighting trim, is one of the few senior players who uses a golf cart to ferry himself around the golf course.

Suffice it to say, he’s enjoying the ride. The affable Northern Irishman, the 36-hole co-leader, shot a final-round eight-under-par 64 to win the first senior event of 2021.

Clarke completed 54 holes in 21-under 195. Retief Goosen, who began the round two shots back, also shot a 64 and finished second. Jerry Kelly, the 36-hole co-leader, shot a 68 and finished third.

Momentum, meanwhile, can’t explain two in a row for Clarke, given that more than two months separated his second senior victory from his first, in the TimberTech Championship in November.

“I sort of broke through in Boca [TimberTech] and I sort of liked the feeling of that,” he said. “But down in Abaco [his home in the Bahamas] straight after. Went down there with my group of mates. We play all the time. I give them lots of shots and all that sort of stuff and just keeping me competitive. I worked and practiced nearly every day from the break.”

The outcome came down to virtual match play between Clark and Goosen, and Clarke prevailed by making six birdies on the back nine, including two straight, at the 16th and 17th, that delivered the margin of victory.

It is not a new season, only a new year. When the pandemic reduced the senior tour schedule to only 15 events in 2020, a decision was made to include 2021 tournaments in a wraparound season.

On that note, then, Clarke joined Jim Furyk and Phil Mickelson as the only players to have won back-to-back starts in 2020-21 season.

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