Clarke wants that jug back
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Darren Clarke may no longer be in possession of the Claret Jug but his place in the champions’ locker room at Royal Lytham & St Annes this week will be a fitting place to plot his British Open title defence.
By Simon Lewis
The iconic silver trophy was returned to the R&A yesterday as 43-year-old Clarke brought down the curtain on a memorable 12 months as champion.
His three-stroke win over American duo Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson at Royal St George’s had brought him his first Major success at the 54th attempt in a week that had, unusually, begun in the champions’ area of the Kent link course’s locker room.
“Last year at Royal St George’s, I got my locker, and I was beside Mr [Tom] Watson and a few of the other guys,” Clarke recalled yesterday. “I couldn’t quite figure out, why am I in this locker, and it was due to the late withdrawal of Greg Norman that [R&A chief executive] Mr [Peter] Dawson decided, well, who can we put in there that won’t offend anybody, that won’t do anything.
“So they stuck me in the champions’ area of the locker room last year, and this year I’m back in the same area, the champions’ area, but having won it, I’ve earned my place in that part of the locker room this time.”
Many had believed the company of Major winners was where Clarke had belonged for quite some time, yet it had taken more than two decades as a professional and plenty of near misses in the biggest championships before the potential for golfing greatness was finally realised.
“The lows of losing, you’ve got to learn to lose before you can win,” said the former British Open runner-up of 1997, who finished third at Lytham in 2001.
“The lows of losing put you in a position where you can appreciate the joys of winning, and that was certainly my case. I had strived for it my whole career, and I managed to get over the line in the end.
“Certainly I did enjoy it last year. It was obviously one of the highlights of my career thus far, and I would love to get myself back in the same position. But losing is part of golf, unless you’re Tiger Woods and you win his percentage of tournaments, but there’s not many of us that do that. But it’s part and parcel of the game. You’ve got to lose and then enjoy the win, which I did.”
Having achieved the success he had always craved, following it became Clarke’s next problem and while he enjoyed his long-awaited success as a roving travel partner to the Claret Jug and also managed a Bahamas beach wedding to fiancee Alison Campbell, his on-course activities fell well below his expectations.
“I don’t know if it’s because of winning the Open Championship or not, but I’ve certainly fallen into a little bit of a trap of trying to play better, and trying too hard as opposed to just going and playing, getting into a mentality that I’ve got to go out and play like the Open champion, instead of just playing the way that I played up and down in the first place,” Clarke admitted.
“I got a little caught up and tried too hard. Unfortunately that’s the nature of our game. You get success at the highest level, and it just creates some more. I want to win again and I want to win bigger and better tournaments.
“There is none better than the Open Championship, but I want to win the big tournaments. I just pushed myself too hard to do that.”
Having learned the lessons of Major success, Clarke will be keen to make amends this week at Royal Lytham and the wet and windy conditions on the Lancashire coast are tailor-made for the Portrush resident to take advantage of while others moan and whinge.
“The course is going to play really tough this week. It’s quite narrow. The rough is very, very penal, and we’re forecasted some rough weather. But that’s the Open Championship, I think.
“If conditions are tough, that doesn’t particularly bother me. That’s fine.”
Playing partner for the first two rounds and old friend Ernie Els certainly believes Clarke can benefit.
“This plays right into his hands,” Els said. “He did this last year. He has been in a slump but links golf revives him a little bit so hopefully he has a good week.”
© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved
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