Clarke champions links courses for future events

DARREN CLARKE believes future Irish Opens should be played on links courses.

Clarke heaped praise on Baltray after he finished with a round of 70 for a six under par total of 282 and a share of 13th place. A bogey six at the 18th cost him a first European Tour top ten finish of the year but it could be that Clarke is on the right road after a very trying start to 2009.

With question marks over when and where the tournament will be played next year, Clarke was unequivocal: “For me, it has to be a links,” he insisted. “I grew up watching the Irish Open at Royal Dublin and Portmarnock and this is not taking away from the other great courses to have hosted the event. But for me it should be on a links golf course and we certainly played one of the best here this week.

“It was great to see all those people swarming all over the dunes and it was like those great years in the 1980s.”

Yesterday’s round included a hat-trick of birdies from the 4th but there were no other gains and a six at the long 18th came as a big disappointment. However, Clarke took a lot of positives out of the week and was glowing in his praise for sponsors 3; the golf course and the thousands who defied the awful weather to watch yesterday’s final round.

“I think 3 would have enjoyed their sponsorship and hopefully it has come across to the viewers as a really good tournament. It is one of the premier tournaments on the European Tour and I and all the other players would like to get it back where it should be and 3 are committed to doing that.

“I love Baltray, it’s a great course and a place where I have a lot of friends and very fond memories”.

Ulster counterpart Rory McIlroy however may struggle to have such kind thoughts this week. Having completed the opening 36 holes in seven under, the 20 year-old fell away badly through the stormy weekend and yesterday’s 75 shot him back to even par for the championship.

“It was a very disappointing week for me,” he admitted. “I wanted to do a lot better and I wasn’t able to do so. I didn’t convert the opportunities I gave myself on Friday and didn’t putt very well in the tough conditions on Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s great to get back to links golf and I think we should have a lot more of it on the European Tour but personally I need to get myself back on the leader board. I haven’t been up there for a couple of months. I feel the parts are all there, I just have to fit them together”.