Compiled by PHILIP REID
Locker luck: Mulrooney reveals where it all started
STRANGE how fate leaves its calling card, isn't it? John Mulrooney – an experienced caddie who had previously carried the bags of Jose Maria Olazabal, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Steve Webster and more recently David Howell – got the job to carry Darren Clarke's bag when his regular caddie was unavailable for the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca in May.
Of course, Clarke won – his first success on tour since 2008 – and Mulrooney, a 42-year-old from Bray in Co Wicklow, kept the job.
Two weeks ago, player and caddie came here to Royal St George’s for a practice round. “It went really well,” recalled Mulrooney. But the suspicion that it could be their week came when, on arrival for the tournament, Clarke was given Greg Norman’s locker.
“We always felt it was meant to be this week,” said Mulrooney. “Even Tom Watson said it could be a lucky locker for us . . . it made a massive difference getting that locker.”
SPOTTED IN THE CROWD
SPOTTED in the crowd: Ulster rugby players Darren Cave and Rory Best, who flew in to lend their support to Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy in their respective pushes for glory.
Cave organised a sweepstake earlier in the week for the Ulster squad and actually got McIlroy in the draw. It didn't stop him cheering loudly for Clarke, though.
Mind game: How the good doctor helped Clarke
THE man with the Midas touch? Dr Bob Rotella (right) – a best-selling author and sports psychologist – can take some of the credit for getting Darren Clarke's mindset right to enable him to achieve his dream of winning the Claret Jug.
All week, Clarke has been hugely complimentary of Rotella's input. And before – having renewed a working acquaintance earlier in the week – the two met again yesterday morning before the Ulsterman prepared for the final round.
What was said? "Darren, about all he has been through in life. He has had some downs. And I told him, 'You've got to feel like you are destined to win some of these'. He said, 'I know doc', and, before he teed off, he told me: 'I want to go out there and trust myself and be happy for the whole 18 holes and whatever happens, happens. If I win or I don't win . . . ' We talked about staying in the moment."
Fat chance: How about a 'Chubby Slam'?
DARREN Clarke's win in the British Open set his manager Andrew "Chubby" Chandler (right) up for a unique situation where three of his players currently hold all of the major titles played for this season . . . which raises the question: What chance of the so-called "Chubby Slam" at next month's US PGA Championship in Atlanta? Charl Schwartzel started the sequence with his win in the US Masters in April. Rory McIlroy continued the run with victory in last month's US Open. And, now, Clarke has made it a hat-trick.
With a stable that also includes world number two Lee Westwood and last year's British Open winner, Louis Oosthuizen, Chandler could do a Grand Slam of management wins.
"We've just had an amazing run but I don't think that's a coincidence because I think they feed off each other. They eat together, they travel together and they play practice rounds together. Darren played with Lee on Tuesday and Rory on Wednesday and I think that was a sign, playing with them, that he realised that his game was up to it."
AT A STRETCH
THE pre-round stretching routines of the older players came in for quite a deal of scrutiny over recent days . . . with the antics of Darren Clarke – using a TPI stretching pole – to limber up in stark contrast to the stretching techniques employed by Miguel Angel Jimenez.
While Clarke used the pole to stretch his back and to loosen up, the Spaniard could be spotted with a Havana cigar while he gently stretched, often using a club on which to press his foot.
