Celebrations start after crushing victory

Darren Clarke’s face crumpled, his shoulders heaved and he grabbed caddie Billy Foster and hung on as the tears flowed and the emotion shuddered through his body.

The Ryder Cup was won and if fate had denied Irishman Clarke the honour of sinking the winning putt – that privilege falling to Sweden’s Henrik Stenson - then the rawness of the last few months inevitably tumbled out on the 16th green.