Sandwich, England --

No matter how long it grows or even how quickly, the list of major champions from the tiny country of Northern Ireland simply wouldn't have felt complete without Darren Clarke.

He doesn't have the majestic swing of Rory McIlroy or the putting prowess of Graeme McDowell, the past two U.S. Open champions. He hadn't contended in a major in 10 years, wasn't even eligible for the last three majors and was no longer among the top 100 in the world.

No matter. Clarke's three-shot British Open victory was met with seemingly unending applause Sunday, the loudest saved for the closing ceremony, when he was introduced as the champion golfer of the year.

More than that, Clarke is a man of the people.



He was extraordinary at Royal St. George's.

His even-par 70 on Sunday left him at 5-under 275 for the tournament. Clarke became the first player in his 40s to win a major since Vijay Singh at the 2004 PGA Championship.

A cigarette curled under his fingers as he barreled down the fairways, Clarke held off brief challenges from Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson and thrived under the pressure until no one could catch him.

Clarke held a one-shot lead over Johnson going into the final round. Clarke holed a 12-foot par putt on the first. Then a downhill 8-footer for par on the third. A 20-foot eagle putt on the seventh, not long after Mickelson had made eagle to tie him, gave Clarke the lead for good.

Mickelson, who needed only seven holes to make up a five-shot deficit, was undone by short putts.

Johnson, in the final group of a major for the third time in the past six, made another blunder with a major at stake. This time, he was two shots behind on the par-5 14th, tried to lay up with a 2-iron and hit it out-of-bounds for double bogey.

Mickelson and Johnson shared second place, stretching the American major drought to six, the United States' longest span without a major since the Masters began in 1934.

The Northern Irish went 63 years without winning a major after Fred Daly won the 1947 British Open. Now they have won three of the past six.

On Sunday, the weather was wild - back and forth between heavy rain and sunshine all afternoon, with a relentless wind. Clarke was steady through it all, not allowing himself to think about what it would mean to hold the claret jug until he stepped onto the 18th green.

When he had it won, Clarke, 42, removed his visor to salute the gallery. His hair is almost all gray now, the result of more hard times than he cares to remember, the worst of it losing his wife to cancer five years ago.


Final leaders

Darren Clarke70-5
Phil Mickelson68-2
Dustin Johnson72-2
Thomas Bjorn71-1
Chad Campbell69E
Anthony Kim70E
Rickie Fowler72E