SANDWICH, England — No matter how long it grows or even how quickly, the list of major champions from the tiny country of Northern Ireland just wouldn’t feel complete without Darren Clarke.
He doesn’t have the majestic swing of Rory McIlroy or the putting prowess of Graeme McDowell, the last two U.S. Open champions. He hadn’t contended in a major for the last 10 years, wasn’t even eligible for the last three majors and was no longer among the top 100 in the world.
No matter.
Clarke’s three-shot victory in the British Open was met with unending applause Sunday, the loudest saved for the closing ceremony when he was introduced as the champion golfer of the year.
More than that, Clarke is a man of the people.
“I’m a bit of a normal bloke, aren’t I?” Clarke said, the Claret Jug at his side. “I like to go to the pub and have a pint, fly home, buy everybody a drink, just normal. I’m just a normal guy playing golf, having a bit of fun.”
He was extraordinary at Royal St. George’s.
A cigarette curled under his fingers as he barreled down the fairways, Clarke held off brief challenges from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson and held up under the pressure until no one could catch him.
Mickelson, who needed only seven holes to make up a five-shot deficit, stepped aside by missing too many short putts. Johnson, in the final group of a major for the third time in the last six, made another blunder with a major at stake. This time, he was two shots behind on the par-5 14th, tried to lay up with a 2-iron, hit it out of bounds and made a double bogey.
Mickelson and Johnson shared second place, stretching the American title drought to six straight majors.
Despite meaningless bogeys on the last two holes, Clarke closed with an even-par 70.
“Pretty amazing right now,” Clarke said. “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.”
The weather was so wild that heavy rain switched over to sunshine, back and forth all afternoon, in a relentless wind. Clarke was steady through it all, never allowing himself to think about what it mean to hold the Claret Jug until he stepped onto the 18th green.
Clarke removed his visor to salute the gallery. His hair is almost all gray now, the result of a 42-year-old who has gone through more hard times than he cares to remember, the worst of it losing his wife to cancer five years ago.
“Bad times in golf are more frequent than the good times,” he said. “I’ve always been pretty hard on myself when I fail because I don’t find it very easy to accept that. And there’s times I’ve been completely and utterly fed up with the game.”
The advice from friends, family and agent Chubby Chandler was always the same.
“Get out there and practice and keep going, keep going, keep going,” Clarke said. “And that’s why I’m sitting here now.”
Northern Ireland had gone 63 years — since Fred Daly in the 1947 British Open — without winning a major. Now it has three of the last six.
At a glance
Highlights from Sunday’s final round of the 140th British Open at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England:
• Darren Clarke became the first player in his 40s to win a major since Vijay Singh at the 2004 PGA Championship. Only two other players were older than Clarke when they won their first major — Roberto De Vicenzo (44) in the 1967 British Open and Jerry Barber (45) in the 1961 PGA Championship.
• A closing round of 4-over-par 74 helped Tom Lewis, a 20-year-old Englishman, win the silver medal for the leading amateur finisher. He was three shots ahead of 21-year-old American Peter Uihlein, the only other amateur left in the field. Lewis made seven birdies in the first round but just four birdies and an eagle over the final three days.
• U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy closed with a 3-over 73 to finish at 7-over in a tie for 25th. His round was marred first by a double bogey at the third, then when he took a penalty stroke at the seventh because his ball moved after he had addressed it on the putting surface.
• Phil Mickelson’s second- place tie was his best British Open finish. He has never won the British or U.S. Open. Overall, Mickelson has 17 top-three finishes in 76 major championships, with three Masters titles and one PGA Championship.
• At 61, Tom Watson was the oldest player in the field by nearly a decade. But he finished a solid showing with a 72 and tied for 22nd at 6-over.
• Thomas Bjorn, the Dane who crumbled down the stretch on the final day of the 2003 Open at St. George’s, finished fourth.
• Spain’s Sergio Garcia, who got into the tournament at the last minute, closed with a 68 to finish among the top 10.
Denver Post wire services
