Tag: Darren Clarke

This former PGA Tour venue has a stacked Champions field. Here are 9 players to watch at the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open begins Friday.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The chase for top honors in the 16th playing of the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open and the accompanying $315,000 cut of the purse begins Friday morning at En-Joie Golf Course in Endicott.

Back to defend his championship will be 51-year-old Padraig Harrington, whose Dick’s Open debut brought rounds of 66-67-67 and a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee, with Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh another shot back.

One of the most-followed players across decades at En-Joie will not be in the field for the first time since his 2008 Dick’s Open debut.

Joey Sindelar, a long-time resident of nearby Horseheads and now residing in the Town of Lansing and twice a B.C. Open champion, has concluded his competitive playing career due to health reasons. He did, however, play in Dick’s Open Pro-Ams Wednesday and Thursday.

Here is a smattering of players to keep an eye on:

Jim Furyk will join Ernie Els and Darren Clarke as captains in the inaugural World Champions Cup in December

The event will be aired on ABC and ESPN. Peter Jacobsen, a seven-time PGA Tour winner and TV golf analyst will be the chairman.

Jim Furyk will be a match-play captain again, this time against the world.

The PGA Tour Champions announced this week that the inaugural World Champions Cup Dec. 7-10 at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton will bring together 50 and over players from the U.S., Europe and an International team for three days of match play.

The European captain will be Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and the International captain Ernie Els of South Africa. Furyk and Clarke are past Ryder Cup captains and Els captained the 2019 International Presidents Cup team. All three will be playing captains.

The event will be aired on ABC and ESPN. Peter Jacobsen, a seven-time PGA Tour winner and TV golf analyst will be the chairman.

“The World Champions Cup is a tremendous addition to the game of golf and the PGA Tour Champions schedule,” said Miller Brady, president of PGA Tour Champions, in a statement. “This competition will give fans a new and unique opportunity to see the game’s greatest stars compete against one another on a global stage. Ernie, Jim and Darren are worldwide ambassadors for golf, and it will be thrilling to watch them and their teammates compete for the chance to win the inaugural World Champions Cup.”

Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland during the first day of The Senior Open Presented by Rolex at Sunningdale Golf Club on July 22, 2021, in Sunningdale, England. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)

The format will be doubles and singles lasting nine holes for each match, for a total of 24.

Each of the teams will have five additional players, all active PGA Tour Champions members. Automatic invitations for each team will be extended to the top two point-earners in the WCC’s career-based rankings, with two additional positions going to Chairman’s picks.

The final spots for Team USA, Team Europe and Team International will be play-in positions based on the year-end Charles Schwab Cup standings.

The Concession Golf Club was named for Jack Nicklaus’ famous gesture of conceding the final putt in the 1969 Ryder Cup to Tony Jacklin of England, resulting in the first tie in the event’s history. Nicklaus and Jacklin collaborated on the design of the course, which hosted the PGA Tour’s 2021 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship and the 2015 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I championships.

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Furyk, won 17 times on the PGA Tour and has played in seven Presidents Cups and nine Ryder Cups. He was the U.S. Ryder Cup captain in 2018.

“I am honored to lead Team USA onto the global stage that the World Champions Cup represents,” Furyk said in a statement. “It has been such a treat being part of Team USA at different stages throughout my career. I look forward to having the chance to captain Team USA and compete against Ernie and Darren, with whom I walked fairways for more than 20 years.”

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PGA Tour Champions are in Sioux Falls this week for the Sanford International. Here’s what you need to know

Padraig Harrington has won two of his last three starts on the PGA Tour Champions.

The fifth edition of the Sanford International on the PGA Tour Champions starts this week at the Minnehaha Country Club in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and all four previous champions are back.

The tournament’s events started Monday with a closed practice round, while the first event open to the public is Thursday as the EMC Championship Pro-Am. The first round is scheduled to tee off on Friday at 1:15 a.m. ET [11:15 a.m. local time.

From parking, players to watch, what to eat and a weather forecast, here’s what you need to know before you go.

Players to watch

More than 70 golfers will participate at the Sanford International, highlighted by last year’s winner Darren Clarke – who beat K.J. Choi and Steve Flesch in a playoff. Both Choi and Flesch will be at this year’s event.

The field will also include all of the Top 10 money winners in the Charles Schwab Cup, including Steven Alker who has three wins to date on the tour. Alker’s winnings in the cup are just under $2.5 million.

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Padraig Harrington, who has appeared in 12 events of the Charles Schwab Cup, sits in second place, amassing more than $2.1 million in winnings. Harrington has eight Top 10 finishes this year.

John Daly, a fan favorite, is also a part of the field. He’s joined by other big-name golfers such as Miguel Angel Jimenez, Steve Stricker, Fred Couples, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh. Jimenez won the event in 2020, while Stricker claimed the title in 2018. Rocco Mediate will also participate in the event – he won the 2019 edition of the tournament.

“This year’s field is the best in the history of the tournament,” David Trosin, assistant tournament director, said in a release.

Tom Byrum, a native of Onida, will also play this weekend.

Steven Alker of New Zealand hits his second shot on the 5th hole during the second round of the Sanford International Presented by Cambria at Minnehaha Country Club on September 18, 2021, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)

What’s the weather forecast?

Expect warm weather with a chance of rain in the early rounds.

Highs are expected to reach 85 on Thursday — the first day the general public is allowed on the grounds — with a chance of afternoon showers.

There’s another chance of rain Friday, with a high near 81.

On Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service forecasts mostly sunny conditions with a high near 79.

Sanford International details

Site: Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Course: Minnehaha CC. Yardage: 6,729. Par: 70.
Prize money: $2 million. Winner’s share: $300,000.
Television: Friday-Sunday, 9:30-11:30 p.m., Golf Channel-tape delay.
Defending champion: Darren Clarke.
Charles Schwab Cup leader: Steven Alker.
Last week: Padraig Harrington won the Ascension Charity Classic.

Notes: Padraig Harrington has won two of his last three starts on the PGA Tour Champions. He can move atop the Charles Schwab Cup standings if he were to win this week. … Harrington joined Steven Alker, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jerry Kelly as three-time winners this year. They are the top four in the Schwab Cup. … Justin Leonard made his PGA Tour Champions debut last week with a tie for 19th. Leonard is not in the field this week. … Davis Love III is in the field a week before he is captain of the U.S. team for the Presidents Cup. … Steve Flesch has been runner-up in the Sanford International each of the last two years, losing in a three-man playoff last year. … Mario Tiziani, the brother-in-law of Steve Stricker, is playing on a sponsor exemption. … David Duval has yet to finish in the top 30 on the PGA Tour Champions this year.

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Ernie Els, Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington spice up Dick’s Sporting Goods Open field

Stars of the 50-and-over set are aligned in fine fashion to compete for $2.1 million in prize money.

BINGHAMTON, New York — Off one dark year followed by a decidedly modified version last summer, the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open is in celebratory mode for its return to presumed normalcy this week at En-Joie Golf Course.

Stars of the 50-and-over set are aligned in fine fashion to compete for $2.1 million in prize money on a municipal course that will host PGA Tour-sanctioned golf for the 51st time.

Competition is to commence Friday morning, with the conclusion of play − if all goes according to script − to come roughly 5:30 Sunday in Endicott.

Aside from utilization of digital tickets, which has become increasingly popular in the sports and entertainment industries, there’ll be no remnants of last year’s ticketing model. For 2021, when in deference to lingering COVID precautions capacity was capped at 5,000 per day − including for Friday’s Old Dominion concert − there were no exceptions to the $500 all-inclusive package for the tournament proper.

The field has been assembled — entries closed at 5 p.m. Friday and participants in the $2.1 million PGA Tour Champions event are to include:

• Steven Alker, who tops the PGA Tour Champions’ 2022 earnings list with $2,321,361.
• Alex Cejka, who has three top-four finishes this season.
• Darren Clarke, winner of last month’s Senior British Open.
• Ernie Els, runner-up by a stroke last summer in his Dick’s Open debut.
• Jim Furyk, a 17-time winner on the regular tour who was a three-time winner and three-time runner-up in 2020-21.
• Padraig Harrington, two-time British Open winner and this year’s U.S. Senior Open champion.
• Miguel Angel Jimenez, 10-time top-10 finisher this year who won last weekend’s Boeing Classic.
• Bernhard Langer, 43-time PGA Tour Champions winner who topped the 2014 Dick’s Open.

“I had a great time last year and you had a great champion, Cameron Beckman,” Els said via video on Twitter. “ … I’m really looking forward to coming back and enjoying the golf course and the people. Everything about the Dick’s tournament is just world-class.”

The 78-player field will be rounded out in today’s four-spot qualifier at The Links at Hiawatha Landing in Apalachin.

The Dick’s Sporting Goods Open has been played every year in Endicott from 2007 on, but for 2020, when the event was canceled amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just one previous Dick’s Open wrap-up round has been played later in a calendar year than will be this week’s Aug. 21 closer. That came in 2015 when on Aug. 30, Jeff Maggert completed a two-stroke win over Paul Goydos for his fourth victory in a 10-start span − as an astute columnist wrote, “ … fairly well Langerian, or back in the day, Irwinian.”

A pre-competition treat comes in the form of the UHS Golf Expo featuring World Golf Hall of Fame member and PGA Tour Champions legend Bernhard Langer. That’ll be held Wednesday, with Langer’s presentation to come some time in the 6:15 p.m. range on the 18th green.

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Darren Clarke birdies 72nd hole to win Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles Hotel Kings Course

Clarke needed a birdie on the 72nd hole to win by just one shot.

Darren Clarke stalked the upcoming shot, trying to decide what exactly he wanted to do.

The Northern Irishmen was sitting just off the green on his 72nd hole of the Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles Hotel Kings Course in Auchterarder, Scotland. Clarke and Padraig Harrington were tied on the leaderboard, but if Clarke found a way to birdie the final hole, he would be victorious.

Heavy rains caused disruptions to the final round, so Clarke had to decide whether to putt from the fairway short of the par-5 18th or to chip it. He went with a putter, and it was a great choice.

Clarke’s third shot from about 30 yards away settled a couple feet from the hole, and he was able to knock in the short putt for birdie, clinching his first senior major title. It’s his fourth PGA Tour Champions victory, and he becomes the fourth men’s golfer in history to win both the Open Championship (2011 at Royal St. George’s) and Senior Open, joining Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson.

“It was tough right there,” Clarke said. “You know, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I wanted to win this more than anything. From when I turned 50, this is the one you wanted to win, so I could set it beside the other one. Pretty good feeling right now.”

“To join that illustrious company is very special.”

Clarke made only two birdies during his final round of 1-under 69, but it was enough. He birdied seven of the eight par 5s he played all week, his only blemish Sunday coming on the 10th hole. He fought back with a birdie at the 12th hole and then grinded out pars until his birdie putt on the final hole.

Even with the weather, Clarke was always confident.

“Yeah, it’s what I grew up playing in,” Clarke said. “Don’t make it any easier, but you know at the start, it was a bit of a battle. Pars were almost a prisoner at the very start, and you’re trying to avoid making mistakes. And I was pretty much cruising until I made a terrible swing on No. 10, my second shot. All of a sudden, I turned an easy birdie into a bad bogey.

“So you know from there, keep my head down, hit some really good shots after that again. Kept giving myself chances but the putter was a little bit cold all week as you probably saw. I didn’t really hole anything of note this week but whenever I had to do it on 18 there, whenever I had to get one up close there, I managed to do it.”

After hitting his tee shot on the 14th hole, golfers were pulled off the course, and there was a delay of about two hours until players were allowed back on the course.

Harrington, who made six birdies on the back nine, was one of the first people to congratulate Clarke after the round.

Clarke, 53, finished the week at 10 under, shooting under par in all four rounds. Clarke, Harrington and Ernie Els, who finished in a six-way tie for third, were the only golfers to shoot under par in every round during the Senior Open Championship.

As for Clarke, he said he has options as to what he will drink out of the trophy come Sunday night.

“It will be good,” Clarke said.

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Aside from a few slips, Darren Clarke is standing tall at Senior Open Championship

Darren Clarke didn’t stumble, but he did slip during Friday’s second round of the Senior Open Championship.

Darren Clarke didn’t stumble, but he did slip during Friday’s second round of the Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles Hotel Kings Course in Auchterader, Scotland — both figuratively and literally.

Clarke posted a pair of bogeys on the front nine, but rebounded with an impressive back and finished the day with a 67, good enough for the 36-hold lead at the event.

The Northern Ireland native sits at 8 under for the tournament, a shot ahead of Miguel Ángel Martín, two up on Scott Parel and three ahead of Stephen Ames.

“Around the front nine today, I was so-so. I slipped. My right foot slipped a couple of times,” Clarke said. “But apart from that, I played really nicely. I’m trying to hit a lot of fairways and give myself decent looks. All the way around the back nine, I kept hitting nice shots. And could have been a few better. But, you know, it’s the way it is.”

Clarke, who grew up playing links-style courses, felt right at home on the James Braid-designed masterpiece that opened in 1919.

“There’s a few flags that were out there today as well that you just cannot go after. You’ve got to hit away from those as well. So they’re a little bit linksy as well,” he said. “With the fairways being as good as they are, as tight as they are, you can really nip one. I got a little bit too much spin on the second shot into 17. But if you’re striking the ball, you can still spin it quite a bit.

“So it gives you opportunity. If you keep it in the fairway around here, you can score. But if you start missing the fairways, it’s going to be a struggle because you’re playing for fliers and the ball is releasing as much, you never know how far or short of the green or whatever. But the fact is so far I’ve done a decent job to get them on the fairways.”

Clarke is trying to add a Senior Open to his single major, the 2011 Open Championship, when he edged Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson at Royal St George’s Golf Club. He also hasn’t won on the PGA Tour Champions since last September’s Sanford International.

Although inclement weather is in the forecast for this weekend, Clarke said he feels comfortable in the soupy stuff.

“I grew up in it. It should be all right,” he said on Thursday. “But you know, I think Gleneagles does such a wonderful job with the golf course getting it ready, it would be a shame to get that much rain but a little bit of rain and wind doesn’t hurt anybody. You have to control the flight of your golf ball, especially around here on some of those tighter tee shots.

“You’ve got to shape it a little bit and try and control your trajectory a little bit, so hopefully we’ll be able to do that over the weekend.”

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Team golf comes to PGA Tour Champions in 2022

The idea of reviving a Ryder Cup-style team event for the graybeards has been kicked around and talked about for years, and now it is set to come to fruition.

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Rory McIlroy nailed it during the Ryder Cup when he said team golf is the best.

Do we really have to wait two years for the next Ryder and Solheim cups? Well, the Presidents Cup is less than a year away, but so is a new creation for the golf calendar: the World Champions Cup, which pits three teams of senior-aged golfers. How about these three captains: Jim Furyk for Team USA, Darren Clarke for Europe and Ernie Els for the International squad. Not too shabby at all. All three have been captains within the past five years in international competition and continue to thrive as winners this season on PGA Tour Champions.

“It’s a continuation of long rivalries,” said Peter Jacobsen, who is serving as chairman of the inaugural competition, which is scheduled for November 2022. “These guys are beyond interested in rekindling those competitive flames. For them to be able to do it as seniors is going to be very special.”

Darren Clarke
Darren Clarke will captain the European Team in the World Champions Cup. (Richard Graulich/Palm Beach Post)

As the saying goes, there are no new ideas, and a Ryder Cup style competition for the 50-and-over set previously existed a couple of decades ago. From 2001-04, Arnold Palmer captained a U.S. side in the UBS Cup against Gary Player and once Tony Jacklin. The idea of reviving something like it for the graybeards has been kicked around and talked about for years, Jacobsen said. Intersport, which founded and operates the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, is working on signing a title sponsor and securing a course for a November 2022 date. Originally the plan was to launch the tournament this fall, but COVID had other plans and pushed it back a year.

The format of the three-day competition will be twice daily nine-hole matches featuring both team and single play with points awarded for each hole won in each match. At the conclusion of the matches, the team with the highest point total wins.

“I guess you can call the scoring member-guest-ish,” Jacobsen said.

For the first time, the competitors of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup will go head-to-head in the same competition, while older rivalries will be renewed.

“The World Champions Cup will give golf fans the opportunity to see the game’s greatest players come together in a team format on the world’s biggest stage,” said PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady in a press release announcing the competition. “International team events are some of the most significant competitions in our game, and it will be fun to see Ernie, Jim and Darren, along with their teammates, compete for the inaugural World Champions Cup next year.”

Darren Clarke wins Sanford International in playoff over Steve Flesch, K.J. Choi

Darren Clarke birdied the second playoff hole to win the Sanford International in in South Dakota.

SOUIX FALLS, S.D. — Steve Flesch had his chance to win the fourth edition of the Sanford International in regulation.

K.J. Choi had the win in front of him on the first playoff hole.

Both men missed their opportunities.

Darren Clarke, meanwhile, just kept hanging in there, and when he got his chance he didn’t miss.

Clarke, Flesch and Choi finished the three-day PGA Tour Champions event tied at 12 under, forcing a playoff on the 18th hole, where it took two tries for a winner to emerge. It was Clarke, whose long chip from the fringe stopped just feet from the cup, giving him a relatively easy birdie putt that secured the win and $270,000 in prize money.

Clarke had similar approaches on the 18th hole in regulation and on the first playoff, and he didn’t execute either very well. When given a third chance, he didn’t miss.

“The second time around I thought, I know the speed now, the ball just went right,” Clarke said. “The third time around I was just that stubborn that I was gonna prove to myself that I could hit it the right distance and I did. In a playoff you never know what can happen. Anybody can make birdie. Luckily it was my day today.”

Clark shot a 5-under 65 on Sunday to pull even with Flesch and Choi. Choi entered the day at 11 under, two strokes up on Paul Stankowski and Alex Cejka, both of whom quickly played themselves out of contention.

That allowed Clarke and Flesch to make their moves, which they did steadily amid a fierce wind that at times made birdies difficult. Choi came out steady and conservative, starting the day with 12 straight pars before notching his first birdie on 13.

On the par-5 16th, Clarke unleashed a monstrous drive that set him up for the late push that pulled him even. Still, he needed help to eventually hoist the trophy.

After Choi settled for par on 16, Flesch headed to the 18th tee box with a one-stroke lead at 13 under. But his tee shot left him behind a tree, and rather than cut his losses and knock the ball back into the fairway, he tried to wrap his second shot around the tree. Instead, he smacked right into it, knocking his ball backward. He needed a strong finish to the hole just to get a bogey, which allowed Clarke and Choi to advance to the playoff.

In the first playoff Choi was the only one to hit the green in regulation, and had a 12-footer for a birdie and the win. He missed, so he and Clarke advanced to a second playoff hole while Flesch was eliminated.

The wind was a factor all day, with gusts of up to 40-mph, but Clarke was able to use that to his advantage, something the Minnehaha course adheres to anyway.

“I think if you drive it well here you can score well,” Clarke said. “And the driver is probably my favorite club in the bag. So today I drove the ball well. I hit it long and I hit it straight and when I do that I have a chance to contend.

“(The wind) was tough, it was tricky, but you saw good scores yesterday and you saw good scores today,” he added. “The course was eminently playable, but if you were slightly off with your ballstriking you could play a big penalty with that wind.”

Miguel Angel Jimenez, last year’s winner, finished strong with a 66 to end up tied for fourth at 10 under with Rod Pampling. U.S. Ryder Cup captain Steve Stricker finished 9 under, followed by John Senden, Steven Alker, Retief Goosen and Cejka, who all finished at 8 under.

Clarke said in addressing the fans after the win that the Sanford International is one of the most well-attended and supported events on the entire Champions tour.

“The fans have been very good to me,” Clarke said. “I’ve really enjoyed my time in Sioux Falls. The fans have been brilliant. I’ve had a beverage with one or two of them in the past, so it’s been nice to be back out here.”

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Senior British Open: Darren Clarke halfway home to rare Open double

Darren Clarke aims to become just the fourth player to win both the British and Senior British.

At 52, Darren Clarke has enough mileage on his career to know that the work is only halfway done if he’s to hoist a trophy on Sunday at the Senior British Open. A 67 on Friday at Sunningdale Golf Club (Old) in Berkshire, England, propelled the Northern Irishman and 2011 British Open champion to 8-under 132 at the midway point of the championship and a one-stroke lead over Germany’s Bernhard Langer and American Jerry Kelly.

“Just made good swings all the way coming in and kept giving myself opportunities,” he said. “Pleased that I finished on 8-under because the wind was swirling about a little bit.”

Clarke, who finished T-10 at his first Senior Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St. Annes two years ago, is making sure he doesn’t get ahead of himself in his quest to become just the fourth player to win both the British Open and Senior British Open.

“We’re all long enough in the tooth to know this is only two rounds and a lot of golf to be played yet. I would love to have this trophy sitting behind the Claret Jug. Got to go work on some iron play, my iron play wasn’t there especially around the front nine today but other than that drove the ball well,” he said. “Really (would like to be) in the mix come Sunday afternoon and would love to improve.”

Clarke has company from a couple Hall of Fame stalwarts as well as the leader in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup. Kelly, who won the American Family Insurance Championship and has finished outside the top-8 finishers once in his last eight starts, eagled the first hole on Friday and made four birdies en route to shooting 66.

“The putter was suspect and I kept on trying to do something, do something, and then finally the last four holes, I kept my head down, which you know I’m not known for,” Kelly said.

It worked and it was good enough to tie Langer, who continues to defy his age and contend for senior majors, for second at 7-under 133. The 63-year-old Langer already has collected a record 11 senior majors, and shows no signs of slowing down. He shot 67 on Friday, and said he’d be ready for rain and more wind on the weekend.

“Just plug along. It’s going to be miserable at times when it’s rainy and windy and all that but hey we’ve been there before,” he said. “Just try and make the best of it.”

Langer has done that and then some at the British Senior. In 12 previous starts, Langer has 11 top 10s, four wins and three runner-up finishes.

South African Ernie Els is tied for fourth at 6-under 134 with England’s Paul Broadhurst. While this is Els’ first Senior Open Championship, he always has thrived at playing links golf, winning the Open in 2002 at Muirfield and again in 2012 at Royal Lytham and St. Annes. He also has three runner-up finishes at the British and 11 total top 10s.

“It was a little bit more difficult today, a little trickier,” he said. “I feel like what I’m working on is kind of coming through a little bit. But Darren is a great frontrunner, played really well today, so got a lot of work to do.”

Els could also join elite company – with Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson – as the only players to win both the British and Senior British Opens. Asked when he starts thinking about winning a tournament, Els answered, “Hopefully on the last putt. I’m just trying to stay in it. I haven’t quite got my old game there, so I’m really fighting hard to stay in it. Darren seems like he’s striking it nice. I’m trying to stay in touch with him. Stay there until Sunday afternoon and then whatever happens, hopefully Sunday I can think about that but not right now.”

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Senior British Open: Darren Clarke shoots 65, eyes rare Open double

Darren Clarke took a step in the right direction to becoming just the fourth player in history to win both the British Open and Senior British Open on Thursday.

After missing the cut last week at the 149th British Open at Royal St. George’s, site of his 2011 British Open title, Darren Clarke, said, “All I ever wanted as a young kid was to get my name on the Claret Jug.”

But at 52 years of age, Clarke has set a new goal.

“The Senior British would be very special for me,” he said.

Clarke took a step in the right direction to becoming just the fourth player in history to win both the British Open and Senior British Open on Thursday. He fired a 5-under 65 at Sunningdale Golf Club (Old) in Berkshire, England, to share the lead after the first round with South African James Kingston.

Clarke has enjoyed a resurgence on the PGA Tour Champions this year, claiming two wins in the last eight months. He credited video lessons with swing coach Shauheen Nakhjavani for his strong play. Clarke has plenty of experience at the famed Sunningdale links designed by Willie Park Jr.

“Sunningdale is one of those golf courses where when you play it, you think you’re going to have lots of chances and you go out and play with a card in your hand, it’s a different golf course,” he said.

With a victory this week, Clarke, a 14-time European Tour winner, would join Gary Player, Bob Charles and Tom Watson as the only players to have won the Claret Jug and the Senior Open.

Germany’s Bernhard Langer, the defending champion having won his fourth title when the tournament was last played in 2019, opened with 4-under 66 and trails by one along with Stephen Dodd and Ricardo Gonzalez. Two-time British Open champ Ernie Els, who could also join select company with the rare double, is among a party of five at 3-under 67, including American Jerry Kelly and Australian Robert Allenby, who is making his senior circuit debut.

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