Clarke has represented Ireland as both an amateur and as a professional, notably at the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup, and was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup teams between 1997 and 2006.
Amateur career
Clarke was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and in 1987 he played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University in the United States. He was a junior member of Dungannon Golf Club, whose junior section also included three others who are current PGA Golf Professionals: Alistair Cardwell, Barry Hamill and Gary Chambers. Clarke represented his school, Royal School Dungannon, together with Cardwell and Chambers.
Professional career
1990–92: Early career
Clarke turned professional in 1990 and he played his first full season on the European Tour in 1991. He contested in his first major championship at the 1991 Open Championship, making the cut before finishing in a tie for 64th place. In 1992 Clarke had a solid season on the European Tour, finishing 41st in overall Order of Merit, in doing so achieving the highest finish of his career at the time with a second-place finish at the Honda Open. He finished three strokes behind champion Bernhard Langer.
1993–95: First European Tour win and steady progress
Clarke's real breakthrough year was in 1993 when he won his maiden European Tour event and played his way to 8th position on the Order of Merit. After a relatively solid but unspectacular first half of the season, Clarke's form improved greatly during the August–September stretch, achieving four top-10 finishes in four consecutive tournaments.
In October 1993, Clarke won his maiden European Tour event at the Alfred Dunhill Open in Belgium. Clarke had the lead after 54 holes and held off the challenge of Englishman Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh, who shot a final-round 64. Clarke prevailed by two strokes. A month later Clarke nearly won his second title at the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters, however, he was pipped to the title by Colin Montgomerie who finished one stroke clear. Overall for the season Clarke made 24 out of 30 cuts and finished in the top-10 on seven occasions.
The follow-up year in 1994 was another solid season for Clarke on the tour, making 17 of 21 cuts and finishing 37th on the Order of Merit list. Clarke also played in his first U.S. Open although he missed the cut and had his highest finish, at the time, in The Open Championship with a tie for 38th place. In 1995, Clarke had better success, with seven top-10s in 27 events, most notably at the Portuguese Open where he finished second after losing a sudden-death playoff to Adam Hunter on the first extra hole, despite having the joint 54-hole lead. Clarke ended the year 14th on the Order of Merit.
1996–1999: Four more European Tour wins and near miss at 1997 Open
In 1996, Clarke won his second European Tour title at the Linde German Masters by one stroke, shooting a final round 63 to finish 24 under par, one stroke ahead of Englishman Mike Davis. Clarke also recorded his best finish in a major, at that time, with a tie for 11th place at The Open Championship in 1996. He also equalled his best finish on the Order of Merit, placing in 8th for the season.
In May 1997, Clarke finished second at the Volvo PGA Championship, two strokes behind Ian Woosnam. In July 1997, Clarke was in a position to win his first major championship at the 1997 Open Championship at Royal Troon. Clarke held the lead with American Jim Furyk after the first round and then pulled two strokes clear of the field after a 66 in the second round, but a third-round 71 put him two strokes behind leader Jesper Parnevik going into the final day. However, the winner was not to come from the final pairing, as Justin Leonard came storming through the pack with a 65 to beat both Clarke and Parnevik by three strokes. Clarke ended the season 4th on the Order of Merit.
In 1998, Clarke made his first appearances at two of the biggest golf events worldwide. He missed the cut on his debut at The Players Championship, but his first visit to Augusta National Golf Club was much more successful, shooting 67–69 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 8th at the Masters Tournament. This remains his highest-ever finish at the Masters to date.
In May 1998, Clarke won his third career event on the European Tour at the Benson & Hedges International Open by three strokes from Santiago Luna. Clarke then had three more 2nd-place finishes during the season before winning the season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain. His two victories in 1998 helped him to finish in 2nd place on the final 1998 Order of Merit standings behind Colin Montgomerie. Clarke missed only one cut all year, at the Murphy's Irish Open. In 1999, Clarke captured his fifth European Tour win at the Compass Group English Open, finishing two strokes ahead of John Bickerton. He also achieved his highest-ever placing at the U.S. Open this year when he finished tied for 10th place.
2000: WGC-Matchplay Championship win and further success
Clarke's fine year in 2000 continued when he finished tied for second place in the Volvo PGA Championship and the following week he won his seventh European Tour event at the Compass Group English Open. Clarke also recorded his best finish at the PGA Championship with a tie for 9th place. He also had three 2nd-place finishes in the 2000 season, which included eleven top-10 finishes. He finished 2nd on the Order of Merit and it was his highest-ever season in terms of prize money. Clarke earned over €2.7 million for the year.
2001–03: Continued success and second WGC win
The 2001 season saw Clarke finish one place lower on the Order of Merit in 3rd place, although he did manage some notable results on tour during this season. Clarke added to his list of European Tour wins at the Smurfit European Open, which he won by three strokes at The K Club. A couple of weeks later, Clarke produced another fine performance at The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, finishing in a tie for 3rd place, four strokes behind the eventual winner David Duval. Clarke then had another notable 3rd-place finish at the WGC-NEC Invitational, earning in excess of €400,000.
In 2002, Clarke played on both the European Tour and the PGA Tour. In the buildup to the Masters, Clarke played the Shell Houston Open and finished second behind runaway winner Vijay Singh. He then played on the European Tour in the summer and won his ninth career title at the Compass Group English Open, becoming the first man to win the tournament three times.
In the 2003 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Clarke lost to Peter Lonard at the quarter-final stage. However, Clarke did not have to wait much longer for more WGC success though, when he won his second WGC event at the WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.[6] He finished four strokes ahead of Jonathan Kaye. Clarke's run of success throughout 2001–2003 saw him miss only three cuts on the European Tour in three years and he finished 2nd on the European Order of Merit for the third time in his career.
2004: First winless season in seven years
Clarke continued his run of good form at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2004, when he finished third. He lost to Davis Love III in the semi-final on the 21st hole, but beat Stephen Leaney 2-up in the resulting 3rd place playoff match. Clarke also had a good finish at the WGC-American Express Championship, finishing in a tie for 4th place. Despite winning over $2 million in prize money, Clarke did not win an event during the 2004 season on either tour and this was the first time this had happened since 1997.
2005–2007: Loss of form and slump
Clarke played the 2005 season half and half between the European Tour and the PGA Tour. He enjoyed a solid season with many top-10 finishes, but he could not climb the final hurdle of winning an event. The highlights of his year were a 2nd-place finish at the Barclays Scottish Open in Europe and another 2nd place at the MCI Heritage in the United States. With Clarke playing much fewer tournaments on the European Tour he only finished 20th on the Order of Merit compared to his previous success in this category.
In 2006, Clarke only managed to record four top-10 placings and finished the year 43rd on the Order of Merit. However, just six weeks after the death of his wife, Heather, he made a big contribution to Europe's Ryder Cup win in 2006 at the K Club in Ireland. Clarke was one of Ian Woosnam's two wild card picks and he earned three points on the way to victory for Europe, including a 3 & 2 win in his singles match against Zach Johnson. The 2007 season was the worst of Clarke's professional career. He did not record any top-10 finishes. He withdrew from a number of events in the year and finished 143rd on the Order of Merit list.
2008: Return to form
Clarke ended his winless streak in April 2008 when he won the BMW Asian Open in an emotional victory after a birdie on the 72nd hole to see off Robert-Jan Derksen by one stroke. This was Clarke's first win in almost five years and the 11th of his career. The win broke the shackles from the slump in form he went through in the previous years and his 12th victory was not far around the corner. Clarke won again in the Netherlands at the KLM Open finishing the tournament four shots ahead of Paul McGinley. Clarke ended his comeback year 13th in the Order of Merit Standings, however, he missed out on a place in Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team, the first time Clarke had done so in over 10 years.
2009–10: Consistent play
The 2009 and 2010 seasons were steady in progress for Clarke as he began to rebuild his form following the successful 2008 season. He only managed to record three top-10 finishes during the whole of 2009, most notably tying for 5th place in the defence of his KLM Open title in the Netherlands. Clarke finished 61st in the Race to Dubai Standings and missed out a place in the season-ending finale narrowly by finishing outside the top 60. In 2010, however, he did make it into the Dubai Finals after finishing 30th at the end of the year. He was aided by two second-place finishes throughout the season at the Joburg Open behind winner Charl Schwartzel and then at the Barclays Scottish Open ending up three strokes behind Edoardo Molinari.
2011: Open Championship victory
In 2011, Clarke won his first European Tour title since August 2008 with a three-stroke victory over Chris Wood and David Lynn in the Iberdrola Open.[7][8] After finishing tied for third in the 2001 Open Championship, Clarke did not make the top-10 of any major, until he won his first major championship at the 2011 Open at the age of 42 – his 20th attempt at winning the Claret Jug.[9]
Clarke dedicated his victory to his two children and late wife Heather, who died of breast cancer in 2006: "In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me. But I think she'd be more proud of my two boys and them at home watching more than anything else. It's been a long journey to get here."[10][11]
With Clarke's triumph in The Open at Royal St George's, it was the first time since 1910 that one country (other than the United States) had different golfers win consecutive majors.[12]Rory McIlroy, also of Northern Ireland, captured the 2011 U.S. Open title one month earlier at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. Clarke's victory at the 2011 Open meant that he became the third major winner from Northern Ireland in 13 months, following Graeme McDowell's win in the 2010 U.S. Open and Rory McIlroy's victory in the 2011 U.S. Open, prompting McIlroy to quip that Northern Ireland was the 'Golf Capital of the World'.[13]
Clarke 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 a non-playing vice-captain by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 and by Paul McGinley in 2014.
Clarke's most notable appearance at the Ryder Cup was in 2006, six weeks after the death of his wife Heather.[16] Heather had loved the Ryder Cup and encouraged Darren to compete in it, so he made himself available for selection. European captain Ian Woosnam chose Clarke as one of his two wild cards, and he contributed three points from three matches to Europe's victory and was embraced by members of the European and U.S. teams after he finished the tournament.[16]
He met his wife Heather in a nightclub in Portrush, County Antrim, and they married in March 1996. The couple had two sons, Tyrone and Conor, and the family lived at Sunningdale, Berkshire, UK. 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.[20]
Clarke's friend Paul McGinley immediately announced his own withdrawal from the PGA Championship starting in Medinah, Illinois. 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".[21]
Following Clarke's performance at the 2006 Ryder Cup, six weeks after his wife had died, he was the favourite to win the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, but was runner-up to Zara Phillips. He had previously stated he did not want to win with a sympathy vote after his wife's death.[22]
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied
WD = Withdrew
NT = No tournament
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire in 72-holes; # indicates the event was won by an amateur 1871 No championship; 1915–1919 cancelled due to World War I; 1940–1945 cancelled due to World War II; 2020 cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
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