Darren Clarke

Darren Christopher Clarke, born 14 August 1968 is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who currently plays on the European Tour and has previously played on the PGA Tour. He has won 22 tournaments worldwide on a number of golf's main tours including the European Tour, the PGA Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the Japan Golf Tour. His most famous win came at Royal St George's where he won the 2011 Open Championship, his maiden major victory after more than 20 years and 54 attempts. Clarke has also won two World Golf Championship events, most famously the 2000 WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship where he squared off and defeated Tiger Woods. These victories came when Clarke enjoyed his most prominent spell as a golfer, he was ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 43 weeks between 2000 and 2002. His highest finish on the European Tour money list is second, which he achieved in 1998, 2000 and 2003.

Clarke was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, however he moved over to the United States to progress his golfing career and played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University. He has represented Ireland as both an amateur and as a professional, most notably at the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup. He was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup teams in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006, winning on four occasions and was also appointed as a non-playing vice captain by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 for the victorious European Ryder Cup team.

Personal life

Clarke met his wife Heather in a nightclub in Portrush, County Antrim. The couple had two sons, Tyrone (born 1998) and Conor (born 2001), and the family lived at Sunningdale, Berkshire. In 2005 and 2006 he missed several tournaments to care for his wife, who had been diagnosed with both primary breast cancer in December 2001, then, in 2004, with secondary breast cancer. Heather Clarke died on Sunday 13 August 2006 at 39 years of age, in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

Clarke's friend Paul McGinley immediately announced his own withdrawal from the PGA Championship starting in Medinah, Illinois on Thursday. In a statement McGinley said, "Our two families are very much intertwined, obviously me and Darren, but Heather and (McGinley's wife) Ali were the best of friends and our kids are in the same class at school. So it is a tough time for us all" Heather had loved the Ryder Cup and encouraged Darren to compete in it, so he made himself available for selection for the 2006 Ryder Cup six weeks after his wife's death. European captain Ian Woosnam chose him as one of his two wild cards and he contributed 3 points from 3 matches to Europe's victory.

Clarke was the favourite to win the 2006 Sports Personality Of The year award, but was runner-up to Zara Phillips. He had previously stated he didn't want to win based on a sympathy vote concerning his wife's death.

In December 2010 the engagement was announced between Darren and former Miss Northern Ireland Alison Campbell.

On 6 April 2011, Clarke was photographed by Kevin Abosch for The Face of Ireland project.

Professional career

He won the 2000 World Match Play Championship defeating Tiger Woods in the final.

He won his first European Tour title since August 2008 with a three-shot victory over Chris Wood and David Lynn in the Iberdrola Open.

Open Championship victory

After finishing tied for third in the 2001 Open Championship, he didn't feature in the top ten of any major for a decade, until he won his first major championship at the 2011 Open at the age of 42 - on his 20th attempt at winning the claret jug. Clarke's major breakthrough came just two months after a victory at the Iberdrola Open.