Darren Clarke reported to Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club in Lancashire, England on Monday morning to return the Claret Jug, emblematic of his winning last year’s British Open. Clarke, who will tee off on Thursday with Ernie Els and Zach Johnson, couldn’t attach a number to the mileage the Jug has accumulated in the last year, although it has traveled extensively.
“It was wonderful bringing it to all sorts of different countries, to a few countries where it had never been before,” Clarke said. “It’s one of those iconic trophies that people see on television, but never actually physically get to see it, but a lot of people did. A lot of people have pictures with it, and they all enjoyed it as much as I did.”
Clarke’s reverence for the Jug is of such an extent that he couldn’t countenance the notion of drinking from it.
“It just is too special a trophy,” Clarke said. “I have so much respect for The Open Championship and I couldn’t get myself to do it. I thought about it a few times, but I just decided that the trophy was too special for me to put anything into it. My replica has had, on the other hand, but that one hasn’t.”
Clarke has had the time of his life since pulling off his astonishing victory last year.
“It’s been a fantastic year being Open Champion,” Clarke said. “Obviously, it’s been a much better year off the golf course than on the golf course. But I wouldn’t change anything.”
As his defense draws near, Clarke gave this brief synopsis of the challenge that awaits him and his rivals.
“[This course] is really, really tough,” Clarke said. “If you start spraying the ball around this week, you might as well go home. There’s no chance coming out of the rough at all.”
Joining Clarke at Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s this week will be amateur Alan Dunbar, Padraig Harrington, Michael Hoey, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.
EUROPEAN TOUR
Harrington prepped for this week with a joint-16th place finish in the Scottish Open at Castle Stuart in Inverness. He produced four respectable rounds that left him five strokes behind Jeev Milkha Singh and Francesco Molinari, who went to a playoff, where Singh prevailed. Harrington strung together rounds of 69, 69, 67 and 71.
Shane Lowry was low Irishman, shooting 13-under-par 275 (66-69-69-71) for a share of 11th place. A double bogey on the front nine on each of the first three days hampered his chances for victory.
Peter Lawrie took a share of 24th place at 277 (66-69-68-74). Paul McGinley (71-71) missed the cut by two strokes. Joining him on the sidelines were Damien McGrane (73-72), Simon Thornton (74-73) and Gareth Maybin (73-77).
NEW JERSEY OPEN
Niall Handley took joint-second place at Manasquan River Golf Club last week. The 40-year-old native of Malahide, Dublin shot 3-under-par 213 (70-70-73) to finish one stroke behind fellow amateur Ben Smith in a field that included several rivals with PGA Tour experience.
The tournament turned for Handley in the second round at the second hole (his 11th) when the head of his 3-wood dislodged from the shaft, with the ball dribbling some 20 yards. The result was a double bogey followed by bogeys at each of the next two holes.
Handley is a Managing Director at Cara Resources, a recruiting and staffing firm, in his hometown of West Caldwell, N.J. He is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
EUROPRO TOUR
A week after a spin at Fota Island, this feeder circuit moved to Concra Wood in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan for the Kingspan Concra Wood Open. England’s Billy Hemstock won a playoff from Scotland’s Wallace Booth after both finished with low scores of 6-under-par 210.
Low honors among the Irish representatives went to the trio of Barrie Trainor (74-70-70), Cian Curley (73-69-72) and Tim Rice (76-66-72), who all finished at 214, which accorded them a share of sixth place. Two strokes behind them stood Michael McGeady (72-71-73) in joint-18th place, with Damian Mooney (72-69-76) and Paul O’Hanlon (70-73-74) another shot back in joint-23rd at 217.
CHALLENGE TOUR
Colm Moriarty tied for 19th place in the Credit Suisse Challenge at Golf Sempachersee in Lucerne, Switzerland. At 3-under-par 281 (67-70-73-71), he was eight strokes off the low score. He played the front nine without a bogey over the first three rounds until opening with double bogey at the first hole on Sunday. He took another double at 10, but still managed to finish his round at even par.
ALPS TOUR
Gareth Shaw closed with a final-round 64 that was co-low for the day and elevated him into a share of fifth place at the Montecchia Open in Padova, Italy. His nine birdies in the final round (against two bogeys) were more than he combined for (seven) over the initial 36 holes. His aggregate 205 (72-69-64) left him four strokes off the winning number posted by Ross Kellett.
LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Rebecca Codd got 20th place in the South African Women’s Open at Selborne Park in Kwa-Zula Natal. Codd shot 78 amidst difficult conditions in the first round, and then matched eventual champion Caroline Masson with rounds of 71 and 75 over the final 36 holes. She finished nine strokes behind Masson, who shot 69 in the first round.
