Tag: Senior Open Championship

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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Photos: 2022 Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles Hotel Kings Course

Nothing like a little links golf in the rain.

During Saturday’s third round of the 2022 Senior Open Championship at Gleneagles Hotel Kings Course in Auchterarder, Scotland, the rain got heavier as the day went on.

The sound of rain thumping off umbrellas and sight of it dripping off caps were common, as the world’s top senior golfers meandered their way through the wet, cool conditions in the final senior men’s major championship of the year.

Playing golf in the rain may seem like fun on a Saturday afternoon with your friends, but it’s a lot different when there’s a major championship on the line.

Plenty of players are in contention as Sunday’s final round is right around the corner.

Here’s a look at some of the best photos from the 2022 Senior Open Championship.

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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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Coronavirus pandemic: Senior Open Championship postponed

Due to concerns over COVID-19, the Senior Open Championship scheduled for July 23-26 has been postponed.

Bernhard Langer will have to wait to defend his title in the Senior Open Championship.

The R&A announced Tuesday the championship, scheduled from July 23-26 at Sunningdale Golf Club in England, has been postponed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. A future date has not been selected for the Senior Open.

“We will continue to investigate alternative options to host the Senior Open later in the year if at all possible and will make an announcement in due course,” said executive director Johnnie Cole-Hamilton.

Last week, the R&A cancelled the Open Championship. Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, will still host the 2021 Open.

“Our priority is ensuring the health and safety of all players, spectators and sponsors, and it is therefore the right decision to postpone the event,” said Mark Aspland, the head of the European Senior Tour. “We will continue to work closely with the R&A, Rolex and other key stakeholders to reschedule the event at a later date when we have further clarity on the global situation.”

Langer’s win last year was his fourth in the championship.

As for other majors on the senior circuit, the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship were canceled. The Regions Tradition was reschedule from early May to Sept. 24-27. The Senior Players Championship to be played July 9-12 remains on the schedule.