‘Very good night’ follows Clarke’s British triumph
Darren Clarkes bleary, bloodshot eyes told it all.
The party began shortly after he walked off the 18th green at Royal St. Georges with the claret jug in hand. Beer and red wine flowed through the night, the revelry not letting up until Clarke returned Monday morning for a few more interviews and some photos at the spot where he tapped in the final putt to win the British Open.
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“I have not been to bed yet,” Clarke said. “I probably wont get any sleep until tomorrow at some stage. You have to enjoy it while you can.
“Its been a very good night.”
Clarke sure earned it.
No one had ever gone more than 15 British Opens before winning. Clarke did it on his 20th try, at the ripe age of 42, making him the oldest first-time major winner since Roberto De Vicenzo in 1967.
But that only tells part of the story. Clarke lost his wife Heather to cancer five years ago, leaving him to raise two young boys on his own. Not surprisingly, his focus on the course wavered, which sent him plummeting out of the top 100 in the world. It had been a decade since he was a serious contender in a major; heck, he didnt even qualify for the three majors that preceded the Open.
“I definitely appreciate an awful lot more what Ive achieved,” Clarke said. “Ten years ago, I did take an awful lot of things for granted.”
His parents and new love, fiancee Alison Campbell, were at Royal St. Georges to cheer him on. Clarkes two boys stayed home in Northern Ireland, but he phoned them shortly after he finished off his three-stroke victory over Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
“Tyrone, my oldest one, was very pleased, very proud,” Clarke said. “He was going to tell everybody his dad was Open champion.”
And Conor, his youngest?
“He wanted to know what he could spend all the money on,” Clarke said, breaking into a grin.
Thats not surprising. Clarke has always lived life to the fullest, so its only appropriate that he passed on that attitude to his children.
Then again, given all thats happened, Clarke plans to handle the spoils of this triumph a bit more prudently than he would have, say, 10 years ago. His Open prize was nearly $1.5 million, and there will undoubtedly be a flood of new endorsement opportunities.
“I actually dont have anything in mind because Ive been there, done all that before,” Clarke said. “Ive had the opportunity to buy whatever I want to buy and all that. This time, Im a little bit older and a little bit more sensible. If I can put a little bit more aside for my boys future, then thats what Ill do, as opposed to looking after myself.”
Clarke has long been a stalwart of the European Ryder Cup team, and hes made no secret of his desire to serve as captain one day.
He may have to put off those ambitions for a few years.
“Playing,” he said, “is much better than being a non-playing captain.”
Clarke became the third golfer from Northern Ireland to win in the last six majors, following U.S. Open champions Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell.
“Northern Ireland…… Golf capital of the world!!” McIlroy tweeted, and there will undoubtedly be a push to add that countrys Royal Portrush club to the rotation of nine courses that regularly host the British Open.
“Were all very aware of the fact that three winners from Northern Ireland increases the interest level in this,” R&A chief Peter Dawson said Monday. “I have agreed to take a look.”
In 1951, Royal Portrush became the only course outside of Scotland and England to hold the championship. But the Royal & Ancient is concerned that a lack of hotels and major roads would make it difficult to host such a big event in the modern era.
“The usual mixture of a great course and plenty of infrastructure combined with the prospect of commercial success is whats needed,” Dawson said.
From Clarkes point of view, the course at Royal Portrush is already worthy of a major. But he understands other factors must be considered.
“I would love to have it there,” he said. “It is every bit as good as any Open venue thats on the rota right now.”
Even though he partied all night long, Clarke still hadnt taken a swig of one of his favorite adult beverages from the oldest trophy in golf.
“Im a little bit of a traditionalist,” he said. “I feel a bit funny about putting stuff in the claret jug that shouldnt be in there, so Im little bit more reserved as to what I should do. That may not be the case as the week goes by, but at the moment theres been nothing in there.”
At some point, hell try to sort out all the messages hes received since winning the Open, a victory that was popular with both local fans and his fellow players.
“I have 294 messages,” Clarke said, squinting as he looked down at his cell phone, “and the writing is far too small for me to look at them in this state.”
That will have to wait.
The partys not over yet.
