The golfing world is beginning to realise you should never doubt a man from Northern Ireland. Darren Clarke held steady in the pounding winds and showers at Royal St. George’s, to win the 140th Open Championship by three shots from the American duo of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Clarke has followed in the footsteps of his younger countrymen, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, who won the 2010 and 2011 US Opens respectively.
Clarke’s greatest triumph will be cherished all the more given that while he was once considered a serious contender to win the Open, having being brought up on the links of Royal Portrush, many believed the popular Clarke had run out of chances, now at the age of 42. He finished in a tie for second in the Open in 1997, and in a tie for third in 2001, but he had not finished in the top-10 of any Major championship since then. In his press conference on Sunday night, with the Claret Jug perched on the table by his side, Clarke enjoyed the irony in referring to a recent English newspaper report that stated he was on an “inexorable slide towards irrelevance”.
Cash windfall for Kent
A report for the Visit Kent tourism office states that the county was in line to receive income to the tune of £80 million around the Open Championship, from a combination of direct expenditure and long-term marketing benefits.
“The Open Championship is the largest annual single sports event in the UK with a visitor spend greater than Wimbledon and the London Marathon,” says Kent County councillor Mike Hill OBE. “Kent has a growing reputation for accommodating world-level sports events and the Open also gives us a huge platform to promote business opportunities in East Kent. The economic, tourism and reputational legacy from Kent accommodating the Open should therefore be very significant indeed.”
Oosthuizen still champion for Golf Roots
2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen showed his true colours when he showed up at the R&A Swingzone after the second round of the Open, to play Tri-golf with assembled youngsters, in support of the HSBC Golf Roots programme.
“Tri-Golf is an excellent game to get the kids running around and hitting shots at targets,” said Oosthuizen, the 28-year-old from South Africa, who benefited from the support of the Ernie Els Foundation as an aspiring golfer. “It’s great fun and children need encouragement. I was delighted to help the Golf Foundation today. My own academy is going well in South Africa and I am enjoying helping young players to improve.”
“A number of Tour players have supported us over the years at The Open but Louis is the first to give up his precious time in the middle of the competition itself,” said Mike Round, chief executive of the Golf Foundation. “To finish his round and all his media duties and then ensure he had a game of Tri-Golf with the youngsters shows something about him as a person and as a champion.”
