Darren Clarke ended a 19 year wait for an Irish winner on home soil when he claimed his eighth European Tour victory in the Smurfit European Open. The 32 year old Ulsterman closed with an excellent 66 for a 15 under par total of 273 at The K Club to win by three shots.
Not since John O’Leary’s triumph in the Irish Open at Portmarnock in 1982 had such throaty cheers emanated around an 18th green, and the day got even better for home supporters when Padraig Harrington birdied the last hole to move into a tie for second place with Thomas Björn and Ian Woosnam.
After the huge crowds at Fota Island last week for the Murphy’s Irish Open, another record breaking attendance thronged The K Club fairways. A final day attendance of 27,921 was the largest single one day figure in the event’s history and brought the total for the week to 78,464, beating the previous best of 73,010 recorded in 1999.
Clarke acknowledged the backing he had received on the way to his first European Tour title of 2001. “They were fantastic,” he said. “The roars and the support I had followed on from last week, the only difference here was that I gave myself a better chance to win and this time I took it.”
Clarke’s victory moved him from 18th place on the Volvo Order of Merit to fourth with winnings of 954,191 euro (£574,398) and also saw him move to the top of the Ryder Cup points table with 1,618,322 points. It also moved the Irishman through the eight million euro mark in total career earnings.
The Ulsterman, who started the final day three shots off the lead, made his move with three birdies in a row from the fourth but acknowledged his birdie three at the 447 yard sixth had been the turning point.
His six iron approach shot seemed destined for disaster but struck a tree to the left of the putting surface and bounced kindly onto the green eight feet from the pin from where he rolled in his birdie putt. “That was an outrageous bit of fortune and from where I should have been making five, I ended up making three, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” he said.
Birdies at the eighth and ninth counteracted his only dropped shot of the day at the seventh and when he produced a flawless inward half with birdies at the 11th and 16th holes, the title was his.
Fellow Irishman Harrington closed with a 70 for a share of second place, a performance good enough to move him to third on the Volvo Order of Merit and second in the Ryder Cup points table.
“I was a decent performance but Darren played very well,” he said. “Fifteen under par is a very good total and one that was hard to get to without a doubt. I’m delighted for him but disappointed for myself though.”
Ian Woosnam claimed his share of second with a closing 68 but the most delighted of the trio on 12 under par 276 was unquestionably Thomas Björn, who won a £100,000 diamond necklace, donated by Appleby Jewellers of Dublin.
The Dane received the bounty for reaching the total of 14 under par for the week on The K Club’s par fives, a target he attained thanks to eagling both the 16th and the 18th holes on his way to a closing 67, the final putt a curling right to left effort from 15 feet after his five iron approach had found the centre of the green.
“I think my wife is going to be a little bit happy that’s for sure,” he said. “I don’t know what to do with it right now, but I’m sure we’ll have a little bit of fun with it.”
Another player pleased with his week’s work was Retief Goosen, making his first appearance on The European Tour International Schedule since winning the US Open Championship at Southern Hills CC, three weeks ago.
The 32 year old South African, who was named Asprey & Garrard Golfer of the Month for June at the end of last week, finished with a 66 for a ten under par total of 278 for a share of sixth place with Henrik Bjornstad, one shot behind Mark Mouland who took fifth on his own.
Included in Goosen’s final round was a sparkling run of five birdies in a row from the 12th. “I don’t know why it suddenly took off like that but I hit a good eight iron into the 12th hole to about 15 feet and made the putt and then birdied the next four,” said Goosen.
“With the par fives on the back nine reachable, I said to my caddie if I can finish birdie-eagle-birdie-eagle I have a real chance of winning this tournament - but unfortunately that didn’t happen. But it’s been nice to be back and I’m beginning slowly to think about golf again.”
It was not such a happy final round for the Swedish duo of Mikael Lundberg and Jarmo Sandelin however. Lundberg had led going into the final round on 12 under par with Sandelin one shot adrift alongside Bjornstad.
But while the Norwegian held on sufficiently to finish in the top ten, Lundberg carded a final round 80 to finish in a tie for 34th place on four under while Sandelin’s closing 77 saw him finish up in a tie for 23rd.
