Golf Capsules: On his 20th try, Darren Clarke wins British Open
SANDWICH, England (AP) — No matter how long it grows or even how quickly, the list of major champions from the tiny country of Northern Ireland just wouldn’t feel complete without Darren Clarke.
He doesn’t have the majestic swing of Rory McIlroy or the putting prowess of Graeme McDowell, the last two U.S. Open champions. He hasn’t contended in a major for the last 10 years, wasn’t even eligible for the last three majors and was no longer among the top 100 in the world.
No matter.
Clarke’s three-shot victory in the British Open was met with unending applause Sunday, the loudest saved for the closing ceremony when he was introduced as the champion golfer of the year.
More than that, Clarke is a man of the people.
“I’m a bit of a normal bloke, aren’t I?” Clarke said, the claret jug at his side. “I like to go to the pub and have a pint, fly home, buy everybody a drink, just normal. There’s not many airs and graces about me. I was a little bit more difficult to deal with in my earlier years, and I’ve mellowed some. Just a little bit. But I’m just a normal guy playing golf, having a bit of fun.”
He was extraordinary at Royal St. George’s.
A cigarette curled under his fingers as he barreled down the fairways, Clarke held off brief challenges from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson and held up under the pressure until no one could catch him.
Mickelson, who needed only seven holes to made up a five-shot deficit, stepped aside by missing too many short putts. Johnson, in the final group of a major for the third time in the last six, made another blunder with a major at stake. This time, he was two shots behind on the par-5 14th, tried to lay up with a 2-iron and hit it out-of-bounds to make double bogey.
They shared second place, stretching the American drought to six straight majors without winning.
Despite meaningless bogeys on the last two holes, Clarke closed with an even-par 70.
“Pretty amazing right now,” Clarke said. “It’s been a dream since I’ve been a kid to win the Open, like any kid’s dream is, and I’m able to do it, which just feels incredible.”
The weather was so wild that heavy rain switched over to sunshine, back and forth all afternoon, in a relentless wind. Clarke was steady through it all, never allowing himself to think about what it mean to hold the claret jug until he stepped onto the 18th green.
Clarke removed his visor to salute the gallery. His hair is almost all gray now, the result of a 42-year-old who has gone through more hard times than he cares to remember, the worst of it losing his wife to cancer five years ago.
“Bad times in golf are more frequent than the good times,” he said. “I’ve always been pretty hard on myself when I fail because I don’t find it very easy to accept that. And there’s times I’ve been completely and utterly fed up with the game.”
The advice from friends, family and agent Chubby Chandler were always the same.
“Get out there and practice and keep going, keep going, keep going,” Clarke said. “And that’s why I’m sitting here now.”
With a one-shot lead over Johnson going into the final round, there was a sense that Clarke wouldn’t be able to hold up. But he holed a 12-foot par putt on the first, a downhill 8-footer for par on the third. A 20-foot eagle putt on the seventh, not long after Mickelson made eagle to tie him, gave Clarke the lead for good.
Northern Ireland had gone 63 years — since Fred Daly in the 1947 British Open — without winning a major. Now it has three of the last six.
“Northern Ireland...... Golf capital of the world!!” McIlroy tweeted as Clarke played the last hole.
“We’re blessed to have two fantastic players in Rory and GMac, and I’ve just come along, the only guy coming along behind them,” Clarke said. “We have fantastic golf courses, we have fantastic facilities, but to have three major champions from a little, small place in a short period of time, it’s just incredible.”
They are so close that a week after McIlroy won the U.S. Open, Clarke pulled out of a tournament in Germany so he could return to Northern Ireland and join the celebration.
Maybe McIlroy, who shot a 73 and complained the weather didn’t suit him at the British Open, can return the favor.
“He missed Munich for mine, so I don’t think I’ll miss a tournament for his, but I’ll definitely be there,” McIlroy said. “And I’ll definitely be one of the last ones to go to bed.”
The celebrations also seemed to be for someone else, and Clarke had reason to believe his time had gone. Surely, nothing could top playing a Ryder Cup on home soil in Ireland five years ago and leading Europe to victory just one month after his wife, Heather, died.
He is engaged now, yet his thoughts were with his wife.
“In terms of what’s going through my heart, there’s obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she’d be very proud of me,” Clarke said. “She’s probably be saying, ‘I told you so.”’
Indeed, this was overdue.
No one had ever gone more than 15 starts in the British Open until winning, and this was the 20th try for Clarke. Yet even as he struggled with his game and the adjustment of raising two boys without their mother, and as the spotlight shifted to youth, Clarke never gave up on his dreams.
“I always believed I would get myself back up here,” he said before heading out to the 18th green to collect the oldest trophy in golf. “I always believed I had enough talent to challenge and win one.”
He delivered on the demanding links of Royal St. George’s to hold off two Americans.
The last hour was a coronation for Clarke, long a popular figure not only in Europe but around the world. Puffing away at cigarettes as he barreled down the fairways, he never looked to be in any trouble. And the few times he did, the golfing gods came to the rescue. He twice hit shots that were headed for pot bunkers well short of the green, only to hop over them or around them, keeping him in control.
He posed with the claret jug that was empty, but not for long. He promised some “nice, Irish black stuff” by evening. And when asked about the celebration, Clarke promised only that it would be “long.”
“And I’ll be very, very hungover,” he said.
He finished at 5-under 275 and became the first player in his 40s to win a major since Vijay Singh at the 2004 PGA Championship. Only two other players were older than Clarke when they won their first major — Roberto De Vicenzo (44) in the 1967 British Open, and Jerry Barber (45) in the 1961 PGA Championship.
For the Americans, their longest drought without a major since the Masters began in 1934 will continue at least until the PGA Championship next month. They had plenty of contenders, from Mickelson to Johnson to Rickie Fowler and Anthony Kim, but none came through.
Mickelson’s problems started on the par-3 11th, when he missed a par putt from just inside 3 feet.
“It was just a dumb, mental error,” Mickelson said. “I just lost focus there, and it hurts to throw shots away like that when I’m behind.”
He wound up with a 68, which felt more like a 78, and had his seventh runner-up finish in a major.
It might have been more devastating for Johnson, who never lost his composure even as he fell four shots behind on the front nine. Johnson made a 6-foot birdie on the 10th and a 15-foot birdie on the 12th to get within two shots.
Just like that, it was all over.
Johnson had an 8-foot birdie attempt at No. 13 as Clarke went over the green. Instead of a potential two-shot swing, however, Clarke saved yet another par, and Johnson missed his putt. From the middle of the 14th fairway, Johnson tried to lay up with a 2-iron, playing a draw back toward the flag. The wind caught it and took it beyond the white stakes, and Johnson hung his head and dropped another ball in the fairway.
It was another wasted opportunity — the 82 in the final round of the U.S. Open with a three-shot lead, then taking a two-shot penalty on the last hole of the PGA Championship when he didn’t realize he was in a bunker.
“The more I put myself in this situation, the better,” said Johnson, who closed with a 72. “The more I learn, the more I understand my game and what happens in this situation.”
Thomas Bjorn, who threw away the British Open in a bunker on the 16th hole eight years ago, acquitted himself nicely. He never got closer than three shots all day, but his 71 put him in fourth place and at least earned him a trip back to the Masters next year.
Phil Mickelson is all smiles after run stalls
SANDWICH, England (AP) — The smile remained fixed on Phil Mickelson’s face long after the circumstances of the day should have wiped it off. Stayed there through a missed 2-footer and after the final iron shot he sent deep into the grandstands on the 18th hole when the British Open had already been all but decided.
That yet another major championship had slipped away didn’t seem to matter. Or maybe it did, and this was Mickelson’s way of dealing with the 2-footer that sealed his fate just like so many missed short putts from championships before.
"Just a stupid mistake," Mickelson said. "There was nothing to it."
If you had just tuned in as Mickelson walked off the 18th green, laughing with his caddie, you wouldn’t have realized that for a time he had a very real chance to win his first British Open. Wouldn’t have guessed that at one point he had surged into a tie for the lead, only to let yet another one get away.
Wouldn’t have known that it was all because his new attitude was just to have fun and let the putts fall where they may.
Sure, Darren Clarke was going to drink Guinness all night long from the claret jug. But Mickelson still had his memories, and he seemed determined to make sure they were good ones.
This is, after all, a guy who knows how to take defeat well.
"That was some of the most fun I’ve had competitively," Mickelson said. "It was really a fun start, and it was exciting."
Indeed it was, for as long as it lasted. They don’t call him Phil the Thrill for nothing, and Mickelson even thrilled playing partner Anthony Kim by the way he played the front nine at Royal St. George’s in typical English coastal weather that seemed to change with each passing hole.
Kim said he learned a lot about how to play golf just by tagging along. One thing he didn’t learn, though, was how to close out a golf tournament.
That has been a problem for Mickelson for a long time now. It’s made a career that might have been great merely pretty good.
A lot of close calls in major championships. Not nearly enough wins.
The pattern continued Sunday on the links off the English Channel, where Mickelson did well to make a contest of things when no one else seemed to want to challenge Clarke. A 20-footer on No. 6 got him close, and a long eagle putt on the next hole put Mickelson at 5-under for the day and suddenly in a tie for the lead.
Almost as quickly, though, he faded. And it began — as almost all Mickelson meltdowns begin — with a missed short putt.
This one came on No. 11 on a par putt so short it was shocking. Mickelson pushed it for bogey, the first of four he would make over six holes. By the time he hit an iron shot into the fifth row of the grandstands well right of the 18th green, it no longer mattered.
Mickelson would finish tied with Dustin Johnson, three shots back. Instead of getting his name on the Open trophy, he got it on a silver tray.
I’m certainly disappointed that I didn’t come out on top," said Mickelson, veering off his fun theme for only a moment. "I felt like the claret jug was right there to be had."
About the only consolation to Mickelson is that he hadn’t had that feeling at the British very often. His record here is his worst at any of the majors, with only two top 10s in 17 tries.
He’s never won a British or a U.S. Open, though now he can add his second place finish to his five runner-ups in the other Open. Overall, Mickelson has 17 top-3 finishes in 76 major championships, with three Masters titles and one PGA Championship to show for it.
He didn’t talk about all the close calls afterward, preferring instead to focus on what he said was a new attitude where he tries to be upbeat and have as much fun as possible on the golf course. He believes his game has suffered in recent years because he hasn’t done that, though he’s also had to deal with his wife, Amy, undergoing treatment for breast cancer at the same time.
Mickelson said earlier in the week he was hitting the ball better than he ever had before, and he lurked around par through the first three rounds. But while he’s usually a focal point in big tournaments, no one paid him much attention until he came out and shot 30 on the front nine of a course that’s hard to play even in the best conditions.
That he couldn’t get it done was partly because he began pressing when he saw Clarke wasn’t going to fade. While the birdies came easily early when the lead was far away, they were nowhere to be found when he started hunting for them later.
"I had to start trying to make birdies, and that’s when I ended up making a couple bogeys," Mickelson said.
If Mickelson couldn’t win, he was happy that Clarke could. Mickelson and his wife held hands in solidarity with Clarke at the 2006 Ryder Cup closing ceremony in Ireland after the death of his wife, Heather. And Clarke was one of the first to call Mickelson and talk about what to expect when Amy Mickelson was diagnosed with the disease, and the two continue to talk often.
Mickelson waited off the 18th green after signing his scorecard so he could congratulate his friend on his first major championship win.
This time, he had something to really smile about.
Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or http://twitter.com/timdahlberg
Happy home life behind Darren Clarke’s renaissance
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Not since 2000, when he defeated Tiger Woods in the final of the World Match Play Championship in California, has Darren Clarke looked so comfortable on the golf course.
Strolling along the undulating fairways of Royal St. George’s, puffing away on a cigarette, Clarke was a picture of contentment this week.
“We’ve been with him every night this week,” said Godfrey Clarke, the father of the new British Open champion. “He’s been calm, bubbly. Out on the course, he looked like he was out for a Sunday four-ball.”
So what’s finally turned Clarke from one of golf’s great underachievers to a major winner at age 42?
The elder Clarke credits a happy home life, following a move from London back home to Portrush, Northern Ireland, with his two kids and fiancee Alison.
“It’s left him more settled. The kids are settled, Darren’s settled. And he gets on very well with Alison, who’s a great girl,” he said. “Between the kids being happy and him being happy, it’s calmed him down. He’s happy at home.”
Clarke has finally got his life back together, five years after the death of his wife, Heather, from breast cancer.
At his best, he always had the attributes to go right to the top of the game.
The 4 & 3 victory over Woods, the then-No. 1, at La Costa was at that stage Clarke’s biggest win of his career.
“The hardest thing with Darren was that he’s been slightly labeled an underachiever. And he was,” said his manager, Chubby Chandler, speaking by the side of the 18th green moments before Clarke clinched victory Sunday. “He had the talent to win a major, an Open, but it didn’t happen. For it to happen like this is just amazing. Now he’s no longer an underachiever.
“He was last like this when he beat Tiger in 2000. He had that grin on his face all week. That was one of those weeks when he was unbelievably calm. He’s been like that again today.”
Chandler, a European Tour player-turned-agent, took on Clarke as a client in 1990.
“When he signed him, we knew we had a big one,” said Chandler, who also works with top-10 players Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood. “He was the first client I’d never played with. So I played golf with him the week after, at Mere in Cheshire (in northwest England). I thought to myself, ‘This is going to be great. I’ve got a business here.’
“Even if it was just me, him and my secretary for 20 years, I knew he was going to make me more money than I made as a player.”
There were a few big paychecks — the World Match Play victory earned Clarke $1 million — but never as many as there might have been. Now a major winner with an exemption to the next 20 grand slam tournaments, there could well be a belated rush.
Clarke’s return to Portrush has not only allowed him to be nearer his close friends and family. It’s also given him the opportunity to practice regularly on a links course and in links weather.
While his sister, Andrea, looks after his two boys, Clarke has been working hard on his game at Royal Portrush, the venue of the 1951 British Open.
The target has been a climb back up the rankings from his position at No. 111. And, of course, an elusive major.
“He’s been practicing hard, very hard at Royal Portrush, where the weather is similar to what it’s been here,” Godfrey Clarke said. “He’s not been getting the results. And now it’s all paid off.
“The links was always his type of golf course. Everyone wants this one, the Open. We are totally delighted after everything he’s been through.”
Both Chandler and Clarke’s father said there was never any doubt their man was going to finish the job off Sunday, despite holding just a one-shot lead against big-hitting American Dustin Johnson.
On Saturday night, Clarke and family went to Chandler’s place, where the five-time Ryder Cup player enjoyed a chicken curry, a couple of glasses of red wine and two beers.
A diet of champions.
“He was so relaxed. He’s been the same every day,” Chandler said.
Adding to Clarke’s calm this week were regular meetings with renowned sports psychologist Bob Rotella and another guru, Mike Finnigan. Rotella was chatting with Clarke on the practice putting green minutes before the Northern Irishman headed out for his final round.
“They’ve put him a bit more on an even keel,” Chandler said. “Their catch phrase has been, ‘Go out and prove everyone wrong.”’
-- STEVE DOUGLAS
DJ makes another huge blunder on the big stage
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Dustin Johnson was right in the mix again, playing in the final group at a major championship, just two strokes off the lead as he stood over his ball in the 14th fairway.
He surveyed the green up ahead and reached into his bag for a 2-iron, knowing he needed at least a birdie on the par-5 hole to put some heat on Darren Clarke.
“It was definitely a go situation,” Johnson would say later. “It was pretty much dead in, so it wasn’t all that difficult.”
Clearly, this 27-year-old American doesn’t lack for bravado.
But one of these days, he’ll have to quit making huge blunders at the most inopportune times.
On Sunday, Johnson sent the ball sailing out of bounds, leading to a double-bogey that turned the final four holes into nothing more than a victory lap for Clarke. The Northern Irishman coasted to his first major title by three strokes.
Johnson’s breakthrough will have to wait a little longer.
“If I had to do it over again,” he said, “I’d hit a 3-wood instead of a 2-iron.”
But the pros can’t take mulligans. Johnson must live with the final round of last year’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he threw away a three-stroke lead with a brutal 82. He must live with missing out on a playoff at last year’s PGA Championship, where he didn’t bother to read the rules about all those obscure bunkers at Whistling Straits and took a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club on the 72nd hole.
And, now, he’ll have to live with picking the wrong club and hitting a brutal shot, ruining any hope of snatching away the claret jug on a wet, windy day at Royal St. George’s.
“It was brutal out there,” said Johnson, who limped in with a 2-over 72 that left tied for the runner-up spot with Phil Mickelson. “I think I held up pretty well. I hung in there all day, made some birdies on the back to get back in there and just unfortunately made the double-bogey on 14, which really just took all my momentum out.”
Indeed, Johnson showed plenty of resilience on a week that started quite poorly. He came down with a mysterious infection, his glands swollen up the size of grapes during the opening round. He played the first 12 holes Thursday at 4 over, looking as though he might be headed home before the weekend.
Johnson got himself going with a hole-in-one, posted two straight rounds in the 60s and earned a spot in the final group of a major for the third time.
Now, he’s just got to finish one.
“Like I say all the time, the more I put myself in this situation, the more I learn, the more I understand my game and what happens in this situation,” Johnson said. “I think I did a pretty good job. It was very tough.”
No one thought Johnson would have a problem recovering from this latest disappointment.
“He’s one of the most resilient players I’ve ever seen,” said his coach, Butch Harmon. “He’ll be back. He just made one bad swing with a 2-iron that cost him a chance to win.”
Fellow American Rickie Fowler tried to express a similar sentiment but may have given some insight into why Johnson keeps making inexplicable mistakes.
“Dustin really doesn’t think about a whole lot,” said Fowler, who also struggled to a 72 in the final round. “I don’t think he’s going to be too worried about it. He’s someone that gets over things pretty quickly. He’s a great player. I love the way he plays the game. He can hit the ball a long ways,and I wouldn’t worry about Dustin. He’ll be fine.
There were plenty of Americans on the leaderboard, but none of them could chase down Clarke.
Mickelson made the most impressive charge, playing the first 10 holes at 6 under and briefly pulling into a tie for the lead with an eagle at the seventh. But Lefty’s putter suddenly went cold and he staggered to the end with four bogeys, winding up tied with Johnson at 2-under 278 after shooting a 68 that could’ve been so much better.
Fowler, Chad Campbell and Anthony Kim tied for sixth, five shots off the pace, giving the U.S. five of the top seven finishers.
None of them occupied the only spot that really matters, extending an American drought that already was the longest in the modern Grand Slam era to six in a row.
Mickelson began to fade after missing a 2-footer at the 11th. Johnson, who had struggled to a 1-over 36 on the front side, finally got a couple of birdie putts to drop at the 10th and 12th, re-emerging as Clarke’s main challenger.
Two holes later, Johnson tried to pull off a little low draw with his 2-iron. He envisioned the ball curling right up next to the flag, which surely would’ve given him a shot at the birdie he needed to get within a stroke of Clarke.
Instead, the ball went right and disappeared into the thick, tall grass.
“I had a great week,” he said. “I came down with a little bit of illness, wasn’t feeling that well, so I didn’t know what to expect. I fought all week, and I didn’t have my best stuff this week for sure. But I hung in there and just fought around, and I think I did very well.”
Maybe next time, he’ll finish it the right way.
-- PAUL NEWBERRY
Amateur star Lewis set to delay move to pro ranks
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Eighteen holes with Phil Mickelson were enough to convince Tom Lewis that he wasn’t ready to turn professional just yet.
Lewis announced himself to the world with a stunning 65 in the first round of the British Open, earning the 20-year-old English amateur a shock share of lead and turning him into an overnight sensation.
His family and girlfriend were suddenly in the British press. Agencies were reportedly lining up for him. The sky was the limit for the kid named after Tom Watson, with whom he played his first two rounds.
Then one round with Mickelson on Saturday, when Lewis shot a 76 in heavy rain and wind, brought him back to reality.
“Playing with Phil made me feel terrible, really terrible around the greens. If you’re going to play with the best players in the world, you have to chip and putt like they do,” Lewis said.
“I’m pretty glad I played with him.”
Still, Lewis hasn’t done too bad this week.
A closing round of 4-over 74 on Sunday helped win him the silver medal for the leading amateur finisher at the British Open. He was three shots ahead of 21-year-old American Peter Uihlein, the only other amateur left in the field.
There was speculation that Lewis was planning to drop his amateur status and immediately become professional.
But the round with Mickelson and a word in his ear from the Royal & Ancient, the overseers of the amateur game, means he will delay that move until probably after the Walker Cup in Scotland in September.
Instead of playing in the Scandinavian Masters next week, he will practice with his Britain and Ireland teammates in Aberdeen.
It’ll be comedown after his exploits at Royal St. George’s.
“I don’t think I’ll be turning pro,” he said. “I’ve still got things to learn as I’ve just lost by about 20 shots this week. It’s a bit disappointing that I’m not allowed to play next week but if I’m going to stay an amateur, then I’ve got to do what the amateurs do.”
After turing pro, Lewis likely will be given invitations to seven tournaments before the end of the season to give him a chance to win his European Tour card. That’s not a long time, but it’s been done.
“Rory McIlroy did it in 2007, so there is time of you’re good enough,” Lewis said.
Comparisons with McIlroy, the U.S. Open champion, are to be expected after what Lewis has gone through at the British Open. Playing with Watson in the first two rounds will have given him valuable experience.
“I loved this week and I won’t forget what I did on the first day,” said Lewis, the second-highest Englishman on the leaderboard after Simon Dyson. “It was a shame the last three days ... but to win the silver medal is a great honor.
“Unfortunately I slipped back and Tom (Watson) is out there beating me. It shows you that experience beats youth. Hopefully, I can learn from him like I did those two days.”
-- STEVE DOUGLAS
McIlroy no fan of bad weather at British
SANDWICH, England (AP) — Phil Mickelson had to settle for his seventh runner-up finish in a major, although there was some consolation in seeing Darren Clarke on his way to his first major championship.
Clarke’s wife, Heather, died of breast cancer in August 2006, just a month before the Ryder Cup in Ireland. Nearly three years later, Mickelson’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“He was one of the first people that called us, Amy and I, a couple years ago,” Mickelson said. “He’s been through this and couldn’t have been a better person to talk to. We talked for a few hours a couple of times. He’s a tremendous person and a very good friend, and I couldn’t be happier for him. It was fun to try to make a run at him.”
Mickelson’s wife is doing better. She walked with him at Torrey Pines this year, then at the Masters, and after a quick vacation to Paris with the kids, came to the final round at Royal St. George’s.
Mickelson said Clarke essentially told him what to expect during his wife’s recovery process.
“I mean, he’s been through it all, and so I was very appreciative of the time we spent,” Mickelson said.
Clarke likes to keep private conversations just that, although he made clear how much the Mickelsons have meant to him. At the 2006 Ryder Cup, when Clarke walked into the opening and closing ceremonies without an escort, Amy Mickelson walked between Mickelson and Clarke to be with both of them so that Clarke wouldn’t walk alone.
“Phil has been through an awful lot with Amy, and we have spoken quite a lot,” Clarke said. “He has turned into a very good friend of mine through thick and thin, and he said some very, very kind words to me there after the thing, which is great. And Amy is looking fantastic, as well.”
CHUBBY’S CHASERS: Chubby Chandler of International Sports Management is having quite a run when it comes to major championship winners. He got one at the U.S. Open in Rory McIlroy and added another when Darren Clarke won the British Open.
Clarke has been with Chandler since turning pro more than two decades ago, so the major was a long time coming.
“He’s had to work hard for his money looking after me,” said Clarke, who turned to Chandler at the trophy ceremony and said, “I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me through thick and thin.”
None of Chandler’s clients had won a major championship until Louis Oosthuizen won the British Open last year. Then Charl Schwartzel followed with a win at the Masters and McIlroy won the U.S. Open.
In all, Chandler clients have won four of the last five majors.
CLARKE’S TEXTS: Tiger Woods reached out and offered some advice to Darren Clarke on how to handle the pressure chasing his first major championship.
Clarke called the texts sent after Saturday’s third round brilliant, though he wasn’t saying what they said.
“That’s personal and private between the two of us,” Clarke said. “I’m not going down that road at all.”
Clarke was a bit more open about the texts he got from Rory McIlroy. They, he said, were similar to the texts he sent McIlroy as he went after the U.S. Open title last month at Congressional Country Club.
“Sort of “be patient” with Rory and ‘keep doing what you’re doing, keep playing the way you’re playing,”’ Clarke said. “He was sort of telling me the same things I said back to him. As opposed to me being the old wise one and he was trying to give me all the information. So it was different.”
The advice apparently worked, as Clarke won the British Open by three shots.
SERGIO’S SUMMER: And to think that six weeks ago, Sergio Garcia wasn’t even eligible for the U.S. Open or British Open.
The 31-year-old Spaniard changed his mind and entered the 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier, not only getting into the field at Congressional but finishing in a tie for seventh.
Then he got into the British Open at the last minute, when he lost a playoff in the BMW International Open in Germany. His earnings in Germany, along with what he won in the U.S. Open, was enough to finish among the top two on a special money list for players not already exempt. He put that to good use Sunday, closing with a 68 to finish among the top 10.
That should be enough to make him eligible for his first World Golf Championship of the year next month at Firestone.
It’s safe to say his fortunes are changing.
“It’s great,” Garcia said. “I think the U.S. Open and Munich were very, very important because that was my last chance to get here. I’ve said it over and over again, this is my favorite championship of the year.”
CASHING IN: Thomas Bjorn, Anthony Kim and Simon Dyson needed a few breaks just to get into the British Open. Once there, they made the best of their good fortune.
All three players were alternates, needing other players to withdraw before they could get in. In Bjorn’s case that didn’t happen until Monday night, when Vijay Singh withdrew.
Bjorn got in only one practice round, but promptly went out to shoot 65 and share the first round lead. He finished the tournament in fourth place, four shots back, and cashed a check for $419,416.
Kim was in contention in the final round, too, finishing tied for fifth for a $293,054 payday. And Dyson finished tied for ninth, pocketing $168,304.
LONG TIME COMING: Darren Clark went 54 starts in the majors — and 20 in the British Open — before finally winning one.
That wasn’t the longest stretch of futility, though.
Tom Kite holds the record by playing in 72 majors before winning his first one in 1992 at the U.S. Open. Mark O’Meara played in 59 majors until winning the Masters in 1998 at age 41. O’Meara then won the British Open that summer, and he remains the oldest player to win two majors in one year.
Maybe that will be Clarke’s next target.
“Can I say that’s it? I’m going to retire now? I can’t,” Clarke said. “I don’t just want to rest on this. I want to keep on going, keep on working on what I’m working on because my golf was obviously very good this week, albeit it was links and links does suit me. But I still feel as if I can compete with the best players in the world, and that’s what I want to do.”
MAJOR EXEMPTIONS: Thomas Bjorn didn’t get his full redemption at Royal St. George’s. But at least he got in as an alternate. And he played well enough to finish in fourth place. That not only is enough to make him exempt for the British Open next year, the top four get into the Masters.
It will be his first time to the Masters in five years.
The top 15 return to the British Open next year at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.
That will be good news for Chad Campbell and Davis Love III, who had to go through a qualifier near Dallas that was reduced to 18 holes this year because of weather. It also helps Simon Dyson, who was an alternate, and George Coetzee, who played in his first British Open after winning the last spot in the England-based qualifier.
-- DOUG FERGUSON
Viking Classic
MADISON, Miss. (AP) — Chris Kirk won his first PGA Tour event with a one-stroke victory, shooting a 4-under 68 to beat Tom Pernice Jr. and George McNeill by one stroke.
The 26-year-old rookie tied the tournament record by finishing 22 under, taking advantage of Annandale Golf Club’s soft greens and fairway. He broke a tie with McNeill on No. 17, hitting a 140-yard approach over water to within five feet of the hole for an easy birdie putt.
The 51-year-old Pernice fell just short in his attempt to become the second-oldest winner in tour history, missing a birdie putt on No. 18.
Kirk is the fifth rookie to win this season — only the second time that’s happened since 1970.
American Century Celebrity
STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — Actor Jack Wagner earned his second title at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship, holding off a late-charging Tony Romo with a 10-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and overcoming a shot into the pond guarding the 18th.
Romo eagled No. 11 after he drove the green on the 315-yard par 4. The Dallas quarterback birdied No. 13 to pull within two points in the modified Stableford scoring format that puts a premium on eagles and birdies.
Both hit inside 15 feet on the par-3 17th, but Romo missed his birdie attempt while Wagner made his.
Romo followed Wagner into the pond on the 18th then made par while Wagner saved bogey to win 80-77.
Chiquita Classic
MAINEVILLE, Ohio (AP) — Russell Knox shot a 6-under 66 to earn his first Nationwide Tour victory, beating Billy Hurley by three strokes.
The Scot began the day with a one-stroke lead and was never challenged at TPC River’s Bend, finishing at 25-under 263. He moved from No. 27 to No. 5 on the season money list. The 25 top money-winners will earn PGA Tour cards for 2013.
Hurley closed with six birdies on the back nine for a 64 and a career best finish.
Canadian Tour
WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — American Tom Hoge shot a bogey-free 5-under 66 to win the Players Cup.
Hoge is the first player to go through a Monday qualifier and then win the event since the Canadian Tour’s inception in 1986.
Benjamin Alvarado of Chile had a 66 to finish second.
