Darren Clarke

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke played collegiate golf briefly in 1987 at Wake Forest University. He turned professional three years later and played his first full season on the European Tour in 1991. Clarke won his first title at the 1993 Alfred Dunhill Open, finishing two shots ahead of Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh. He won again in 1996, twice in 1998, and once in 1999.
Clarke's international breakthrough came in 2000, when he defeated Tiger Woods in the final, 4 & 3, at the 2000 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa. This was Clarke's biggest victory at the time and netted him the $1-million first-place prize. Clarke faced a challenging route in the event, defeating big-name players, including Paul Azinger, Mark O'Meara, Thomas Bjorn, Hal Sutton, and David Duval, before taking on Woods in the final. Clarke followed that victory with another WGC win at the 2003 Bridgestone, shooting a final-round 67 for a four-shot victory. Between 1993 and 2003, he won eight more events on the European Tour.
His wife, Heather, was diagnosed with primary breast cancer in December 2001 and, in 2004, with secondary breast cancer. He took time away from golf to care for her and their two sons, Tyrone and Conor. She passed away in August 2006. Clarke was a captain's pick for the European Ryder Cup Team three weeks later. The Matches were conducted at The K Club. In an emotionally charged week, he played superbly, winning all three of his matches in a European victory.
A dedicated worker for charity, Clarke organized a unique Pro-Am at Portmarnock in September 1998 to benefit the victims of the Omagh bombing tragedy. He also set up the Darren Clarke Foundation, which helps further the development of junior golf in Ireland and raises money for breast cancer awareness.
Clarke won once in 2008 at the BMW Asian Open but didn't win again until the 2011 Iberdrola Open in Spain. The latter set him up for the most significant victory of his career. Playing his 54th major at the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St. George's in England, Clarke posted four rounds of par or better to defeat Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson by three shots. Only Tom Kite (72 starts) and Mark O'Meara (59 starts) took longer to win their first major. He became just the second Open champion from Northern Ireland, joining Fred Daly, who won in 1947. He also became the fourth player from Northern Ireland to win a major, joining Daly, Graeme McDowell, and Rory McIlroy. It took Clarke 20 starts to win the Open, the longest period for any player to record a first win at the major. At 42 years, 11 months, and 3 days old, he became the oldest Open champion since Roberto De Vicenzo won in 1967 at age 44 years, 93 days, and the oldest major winner since Ben Crenshaw, who was 43 years, 2 months, 29 days at the 1995 Masters. The win vaulted him to 30th in the world rankings.
Later that year, he became an honorary member of the European Tour and was awarded an Order of the British Empire. He was given the PGA Recognition Award in 2012, the same year he married his current wife, Alison Campbell.
Clarke played in five Ryder Cup Matches (1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2006), served as one of captain Colin Montgomerie's vice-captains in the win at The Celtic Manor Resort in 2010, and was a vice-captain for Jose Maria Olazabal's team in the victory at Medinah in 2012. He captained the European Team at the 2016 Ryder Cup.
2012 Notes: In 20 European and PGA Tour starts, Clarke posted one top-25 finish, T-17th at the Volvo World Match Play Championship. He finished T-8th at the 2012 Australian PGA Championship. In April, he remarried Alison Campbell, whom he met in November 2009 on a blind date set up by Graeme McDowell.
2013 Notes: Clarke started the year 150th in the rankings, and in March tore a hamstring while playing tennis with his two sons. Recovery proved slow, and he took two months off from play. He played 17 events and only had one top-10, a T-2nd at the Nanshan China Masters. He ended the year ranked 296th worldwide and announced he would join the PGA Tour and play full-time in America in 2014. (He had given up his PGA Tour card in 2006 to play full-time in Europe).
2014 Notes: When Clarke appeared in his first event of the year at the Volvo Golf Championship, he had dropped 40 pounds, thanks to a new workout routine he started the previous October. He pulled a chest muscle at the Qatar Masters, and it took most of the year for the injury to heal. He played in 26 events and only had one top-15 finish, T-15th at the Asian Tour's Dubai Open.
2015 Notes: Clarke started the year healthy, but his best finish was T-15th at the Tshwane Open, which would be his last top-25 finish in any event worldwide. He withdrew during the first round at The Players Championship due to a sore wrist, but it hasn't been a problem since. Clarke was named in February as the captain of the 2016 European Ryder Cup team, which would a lot of his time.
2016 Notes: Only made three cuts, T-43rd at the Irish Open, T-61st at Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, and T-30th at the Open Championship. Was on the losing side of the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine
2017 Notes: Didn't play on the weekend in 12 events. Did some TV commentary work for both Sky Sports and NBC Sports.
2018 Notes: Made his first cut since the 2016 Open championship with a T-61st at the NBO Oman Open. He made another cut on the European Tour, 63rd on the Hero Indian Open. He turned 50 over the summer and made six PGA Tour Champions appearances. He had a season-best T-24th at the Boeing Classic. He finished 90th on the money list.
2019 Notes: Played a full-time schedule on the PGA Tour Champions in 22 events and was in the top ten four times. He was 43rd on the Charles Schwab Cup points list. His first event of the year was T-10th in the Oasis Championship. Was T-2nd at the Cologuard Classic, made a 50-foot par putt on the final hole to finish 4 shots back of winner Mark O'Meara. He was T-4th at the Mastercard Japan Championship, finishing 4 shots back of winner Scott McCarron. In the Senior Open Championship was T-10th.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 32 PGA Tour Champions events with nine top-tens and finished 6th in the Charles Schwab Cup. He was T-9th at the 2020 Charles Schwab Series at Bass Pro Shops Big Cedar Lodge, three shots back of the Bertsch/Day/Langer/Perry playoff. He got his first PGA Tour Champions to win at the TimberTech Championship. With rounds of 69-62-68 and a birdie on his final hole in the final round was a shot better than Jim Furyk and Bernhard Langer. That would be his last start in 2020. In 2021 he won his first start at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai. He did it with birdies on four of his last six holes in the final round for a two-shot win over Retief Goosen. Was T-8th at the Regions Tradition and Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Shot a final round 67 at the Senior Open Championship to finish 3rd, two shots back of winner Stephen Dodd. He had his third season win at the 2021 Sanford International, defeating Steve Flesch and K.J. Choi in a playoff. Shot a final round 65 to overcome a four-shot deficit going into the final round. In the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship, he shot a final round 64 to finish T-3rd, two shots back of winner Phil Mickelson.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour Champions events with two top-ten finishes. He was 18th in the Schwab Rankings and 15th on the money list, earning $962,248. He captured his first senior major title at The Senior Open Championship, held at Gleneagles in Scotland, and posted 65-67-69-69 to finish one shot ahead of runner-up Padraig Harrington. He became the fourth golfer to win both The British Open and The Senior Open, joining Bob Charles, Gary Player, and Tom Watson. He marked his fourth win on PGA Tour Champions. A first-round co-leader at Dick's Sporting Goods Open, tallied 65-72-69 to finish T-6th, six shots back of winner Padraig Harrington.
2023 Notes: Played in 22 PGA Tour Champions events with seven top-ten finishes. He was 24th in the Schwab Rankings and 23rd on the money list, earning $958,030. The 2021 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai winner finished T-2nd, six shots back of winner Steve Stricker. Clarke opened with 7-under 65 to share the first-round lead before closing with 66-68. Was T-7th a the Hoag Classic and T-9th at the Regions Tradition. He opened with three consecutive 69s a the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship but shot 72 in the final round to finish T-5th, nine back of winner Steve Stricker. Shot a final round 65 to finish T-5th at Dick's Sporting Goods.Finished T-4th at the Shaw Charity Classic, three shots back of the winner, Ken Duke. At the Ally Challenge was the co-leader after 36 holes, shot a final round 72 to finish 7th. Was T-27th at the season-ending Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2024 Notes: Was 7th at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai, T-7th at the Cologuard Classic and Insperity Invitational.