Darren Clarke - 2011 Open Champion, 2022 Snr Open Champion

slave1 · 25-07-2022 10:58AM #1

Surprised no Clarkie thread.

I honestly thought his winning days were behind him so respect for the 2022 Senior Open Major win

FixdePitchmark · 25-07-2022 11:28AM

Fair play to him - nice to see him smiling again.

I know Darren has had tough times in his life - but I think the public fell a bit out of love with him again after the Ryder cup.

Let us be honest - when he is going to be head to head with Padraig - we all know where the public support will be.

Seve OB · 25-07-2022 12:11PM

delighted for Big D.

good title also because I was racking my brain trying to work out when he had won the Open. I had settled on 2012, so you saved me looking it up

blue note · 25-07-2022 12:25PM

I thought his winning days were behind him too, I didn't expect to see him win a senior major. Fair play to him. Hopefully he can have a run of form on the senior tour now.

It's strange that we've fallen out of love with him so much. GMac fair enough because of the LIV golf stuff. But what has changed with Clarke? We were all massive fans when he won the open and throughout his career really. Harrington is about the most likeable golfer in the world, so pitting the two against each other it's fair enough that we'll lean towards Padraig. But if Harrington wasn't running him close I don't think he'd be getting much of a mention in the Irish press anyway.

slave1 · 25-07-2022 12:31PM

I've always liked him, he made a special RC in Ireland even more special given his bravery on hitting the course at a most difficult time in his life

mjsc1970 · 25-07-2022 12:35PM

Seriously. One of the best ball strikers with irons in his day. I'd still watch the man puring shots now.

25-07-2022 12:42PM

Pleased for him. He always looks so relaxed on link courses. Nice to see Harrington first out to congratulate him.

25-07-2022 12:56PM

Darren like us all, has his good and very grumpy days. He can get very spiky and tetchy with people, especially if he is in a foul mood, particularly with the media.

Great ballstriker though and only for a far too frequent cold putter he would have won more than one major on the main tour.

Mantis Toboggan · 25-07-2022 01:24PM

Great to see him get the win and it's a big win too. Hopefully we'll see him back at Irish opens.

25-07-2022 01:31PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119384500#Comment_119384500

Met him socially and played with him a number of times, he can be far more than “very spiky”. Good to see him winning, didn’t see any of it but he played very well by all accounts.

blue note · 25-07-2022 02:04PM

Why haven't we seen him at the Irish open? Surely he'd get in on an invite if he wanted?

Pdoghue · 25-07-2022 02:12PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119384895#Comment_119384895

Clarke is not playing on the main tour anymore, and anyway lives in the Bahamas. I doubt if he would be bothered coming back to play in the Irish Open. The purses on the Seniors tour in the US would probably be higher. So a bit like Rory I'd say.

blue note · 25-07-2022 02:31PM

Not seeing him at the Irish open doesn't help his popularity here.

I'd say the Irish open purse is a fair bit higher than the seniors tour (it's fairly decent) but he could probably make more on the seniors tour because the competition isn't as strong.

Seve OB · 25-07-2022 03:33PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119384361#Comment_119384361

who fell out of love with him?

i think you might be mixing that up with the simplicity of out of sight, out of mind. I don't think its fair to say there was any falling out

Seve OB · 25-07-2022 03:36PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119384500#Comment_119384500

that temperament earned him a disparaging nickname which may or may not have been used to his face, but i've never heard it mentioned on public forums so i'll be keeping it under wraps for now. i think he has mellowed quite a bit though over the years, age tends to do that with most people i guess

big_drive · 25-07-2022 03:43PM

Always been a few stories around about him being nasty enough to people behind the scenes while putting a different reputation out there when dealing with media etc. So I'd say plenty wouldn't be big fans for those reasons

Miley Byrne · 25-07-2022 03:55PM

What he tried to do to McGinley (Who was supposedly one of his best friends for years at that time ) by backing Monty in the Ryder Cup captaincy race definitely changed people's perception of Clarke. At the time McGinley would have been pretty popular (less so now due to his work on Sky), as would Clarke. But that was the moment when we got a flavour of the type of fella Clarke really is and the majority of the public had sympathy for McGinley and Clarke had egg on his face when Monty didn't get the gig anyway

mcardler · 25-07-2022 04:53PM

So Clarke backed the man he thought was best for the job (Monty) over a fellow countryman whom he thought to be less suited? Oh My, what a shocking, disloyal, treacherous decision - shame on the FAI for choosing Jack Charlton as Ireland boss when they had the likes of Eoin Hand and Dunphy around!

slave1 · 25-07-2022 06:51PM

That's not what happened IIRC, he said he was backing McGinley then without any heads up put his own name forward, then when he dropped out instead of going back to McGinley said Monty would be a better captain, maybe I'm wrong in that...and the saga "concluded" with a written apology from Clarke to McGinley