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2011 / Royal St George's
No one had taken more than 16 appearances to win The Open until Darren Clarke triumphed at Royal St George’s on his 20th.
It was a long wait for man who grew up playing links golf, but he had recently moved back to Northern Ireland, with his two sons and fiancee, and had spent the previous winter playing Royal Portrush in all weathers.
This turned out to be valuable preparation for an Open played on the Kent coast in largely cool, wet and windy conditions. Clarke put on an exhibition of links golf while battling the elements to win by three strokes from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
He was briefly caught by Mickelson on Sunday but an eagle at the seventh followed by nine rock-solid pars clinched victory. Mickelson was six under for ten holes but then missed a short putt at the 11th and his challenge faded.
Johnson got within two strokes but went out of bounds at the 14th. “It’s been a dream since I was a kid to win The Open,” Clarke said. “It’s been a long journey.” At 42, he became the oldest Champion Golfer since the 44-year-old Roberto de Vicenzo in 1967.
The first home winner since Paul Lawrie in 1999, it was a popular and emotional victory. Clarke’s first wife Heather died of breast cancer in 2006. “She’s be very proud and probably saying, ‘I told you so’,” Clarke said.
He later donated the Champion’s Gold Medal to Royal Portrush, to sit alongside that of Fred Daly, Northern Ireland’s previous Open Champion from 1947.
Tom Lewis shared the first-round lead after his 65 broke the record for the lowest score by an amateur previously held by Frank Stranahan, Tiger Woods and Justin Rose. Lewis, who was playing with the man he was named after, Tom Watson, went on to claim the Silver Medal.
Johnson got within two strokes but went out of bounds at the 14th. “It’s been a dream since I was a kid to win The Open,” Clarke said. “It’s been a long journey.” At 42, he became the oldest Champion Golfer since the 44-year-old Roberto de Vicenzo in 1967.
The first home winner since Paul Lawrie in 1999, it was a popular and emotional victory. Clarke’s first wife Heather died of breast cancer in 2006. “She’s be very proud and probably saying, ‘I told you so’,” Clarke said.
He later donated the Champion’s Gold Medal to Royal Portrush, to sit alongside that of Fred Daly, Northern Ireland’s previous Open Champion from 1947.
Tom Lewis shared the first-round lead after his 65 broke the record for the lowest score by an amateur previously held by Frank Stranahan, Tiger Woods and Justin Rose. Lewis, who was playing with the man he was named after, Tom Watson, went on to claim the Silver Medal.
Name
Finish
R1
R2
R3
R4
Total
Par
Chad CAMPBELL
T5
69
68
74
69
280
-
Anthony KIM
T5
72
68
70
70
280
-
Raphael JACQUELIN
8
74
67
71
69
281
1
Simon DYSON
T9
68
72
72
70
282
2
Davis LOVE III
T9
70
68
72
72
282
2
Steve STRICKER
T12
69
71
72
71
283
3
George COETZEE
15
69
69
72
74
284
4
Richard GREEN
T16
70
71
73
71
285
5
YE YANG
T16
71
69
73
72
285
5
Freddie JACOBSON
T16
70
70
73
72
285
5
Anders HANSEN
T22
69
69
72
76
286
6
Ryan MOORE
T28
69
74
76
69
288
8
Charles HOWELL III
T28
71
70
73
74
288
8
Seung Yul NOH
T30
69
72
75
73
289
9
Ryan PALMER
T30
68
71
72
78
289
9
Simon KHAN
T38
71
72
77
70
290
10
Jeff OVERTON
T38
68
71
78
73
290
10
Gary BOYD
T38
71
70
76
73
290
10
Yuta IKEDA
T38
69
71
75
75
290
10
Robert ROCK
T38
69
71
74
76
290
10
Trevor IMMELMAN
T38
70
72
72
76
290
10
Spencer LEVIN
T44
72
69
81
69
291
11
KJ CHOI
T44
71
72
75
73
291
11
Kyle STANLEY
T44
68
72
77
74
291
11
Gregory BOURDY
T48
73
70
77
72
292
12
Floris DE VRIES
T48
70
73
76
73
292
12
Peter UIHLEIN
T48
71
71
75
75
292
12
Robert ALLENBY
T48
69
72
75
76
292
12
Richard MCEVOY
T48
69
72
75
76
292
12
Rory SABBATINI
T54
71
70
77
75
293
13
Bill HAAS
T57
72
70
79
73
294
14
Gregory HAVRET
T57
72
71
78
73
294
14
Ricky BARNES
T57
68
74
78
74
294
14
Fredrik ANDERSSON HED
T57
68
75
77
74
294
14
Stephen GALLACHER
T57
70
71
77
76
294
14
Bo VAN PELT
T57
73
69
73
79
294
14
Matthew MILLAR
T63
71
72
80
73
296
16
Mark WILSON
T63
74
68
75
79
296
16
Edoardo MOLINARI
T66
69
74
76
78
297
17
Harrison FRAZAR
69
72
70
77
80
299
19
Kenneth FERRIE
70
71
71
76
83
301
21
Jung-Gon HWANG
71
68
74
83
79
304
24
Thomas AIKEN
M/C
74
70
-
-
-
M/C
Bryden MACPHERSON
M/C
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
JB HOLMES
M/C
69
75
-
-
-
M/C
Ben CRANE
M/C
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
Graeme STORM
M/C
70
74
-
-
-
M/C
Hunter MAHAN
M/C
75
69
-
-
-
M/C
Ross FISHER
M/C
71
73
-
-
-
M/C
Peter HANSON
M/C
73
71
-
-
-
M/C
Sean O'HAIR
M/C
73
71
-
-
-
M/C
Rick KULACZ
M/C
74
70
-
-
-
M/C
Peter WHITEFORD
M/C
70
75
-
-
-
M/C
Nick WATNEY
M/C
74
71
-
-
-
M/C
Camilo VILLEGAS
M/C
71
74
-
-
-
M/C
Robert KARLSSON
M/C
72
74
-
-
-
M/C
Angel CABRERA
M/C
72
74
-
-
-
M/C
Luke DONALD
M/C
71
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jason DUFNER
M/C
74
72
-
-
-
M/C
Kevin STREELMAN
M/C
76
70
-
-
-
M/C
Neil SCHIETEKAT
M/C
73
73
-
-
-
M/C
Prom MEESAWAT
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Martin MARITZ
M/C
73
74
-
-
-
M/C
Lee CORFIELD
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Jason KNUTZON
M/C
75
72
-
-
-
M/C
Charley HOFFMAN
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Martin LAIRD
M/C
72
75
-
-
-
M/C
Geoff OGILVY
M/C
74
73
-
-
-
M/C
Lucas BJERREGAARD
M/C
73
75
-
-
-
M/C
Tadahiro TAKAYAMA
M/C
70
78
-
-
-
M/C
SM BAE
M/C
72
76
-
-
-
M/C
Robert GARRIGUS
M/C
74
74
-
-
-
M/C
Tetsuji HIRATSUKA
M/C
75
73
-
-
-
M/C
Jonathan BYRD
M/C
75
74
-
-
-
M/C
Kurt BARNES
M/C
68
81
-
-
-
M/C
Mark LASKEY
M/C
73
76
-
-
-
M/C
Scott JAMIESON
M/C
75
75
-
-
-
M/C
Steve MARINO
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Nathan GREEN
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Aaron BADDELEY
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Thomas SHADBOLT
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Simon LILLY
M/C
74
76
-
-
-
M/C
Chris TIDLAND
M/C
77
73
-
-
-
M/C
Chih-Bing LAM
M/C
76
75
-
-
-
M/C
Thongchai JAIDEE
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Hiroyuki FUJITA
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
Brian DAVIS
M/C
75
76
-
-
-
M/C
KT KIM
M/C
75
77
-
-
-
M/C
Bob ESTES
M/C
74
78
-
-
-
M/C
Adam WOOTTON
M/C
71
82
-
-
-
M/C
Jerry KELLY
M/C
74
79
-
-
-
M/C
Prayad MARKSAENG
M/C
76
77
-
-
-
M/C
Rhys DAVIES
M/C
75
78
-
-
-
M/C
Francis McGUIRK
M/C
77
76
-
-
-
M/C
Andy SMITH
M/C
81
73
-
-
-
M/C
Alvaro QUIROS
M/C
75
79
-
-
-
M/C
Ryo ISHIKAWA
M/C
74
80
-
-
-
M/C
Hiroo KAWAI
M/C
75
80
-
-
-
M/C
Markus BRIER
M/C
77
80
-
-
-
M/C
Simon EDWARDS
M/C
82
79
-
-
-
M/C
Craig HINTON
M/C
82
87
-
-
-
M/C
Retief GOOSEN
WD
76
-
-
-
-
M/C
Nicolas COLSAERTS
WD
-
-
-
-
-
M/C