GOLFERS AND tourism officials in Ireland must be pinching themselves as they celebrate following Darren Clarke’s victory in the British Open. The Open is arguably the most important “major” and Clarke stood tall when he was announced simply as “the winner of the gold medal, and the Champion Golfer of the Year”.
Success has followed success over the past 13 months with huge spin-off potential for marketing Ireland, North and South, as one of the world’s great golfing destinations. The achievements of Clarke and Rory McIlroy, US Open winner a month ago, underline how much Irish golf punches above its weight. In holding two of the four great championships in golf, Clarke and McIlroy are following two other Irish major winners of recent years, Graeme McDowell and Pádraig Harrington.
It was little wonder so that McIlroy’s first reaction to Clarke’s success was to tweet that Northern Ireland is now the golfing capital of the world. And it would be hard to argue with such a contention. Two golfers from an area the size of Northern Ireland holding two of the sport’s most coveted trophies is unparalleled in the sport. If McIlroy’s first major success was not entirely unexpected and built on a sublime swing and natural ability, Clarke’s path to victory was a surprise to even those closest to the player. Always a prodigious talent, the days of contending in the major golf championships seemed to have passed him by at the age of 42. But that belief proved wide of the mark following his 20th appearance in the Open.
The fact that he could overcome the loss of his wife, Heather, to cancer in 2006 and then go on to play a key role in Europe’s triumph over the US in the Ryder Cup spoke volumes about his character. It also endeared him to the sporting public who witnessed such emotional scenes at the K Club, notably when he played his first drive. That mental toughness, allied to a new-found happy-go-lucky demeanour, proved to be the perfect recipe for success at Sandwich. Combating the wind and rain was a test in itself but Clarke also had to lead from the front on the final day of the championship and fend off a host of world class challengers.
The governing body for golf in Britain and Ireland, the Royal and Ancient, is now being pressed to host the British Open in Northern Ireland. That call deserves serious consideration nothwithstanding infrastructural difficulties it would pose. But there is no argument why a revitalised Irish Open should not move north of the Border as soon as practicably possible.