The 7am tee-time practice trio on Tuesday at Royal Portrush: Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin. The galleries grew and grew. The venue for the Open this week was the site of a starstruck McIlroy meeting Clarke on his 10th birthday in 1999. Clarke’s foundation played a key role in the early development of McIlroy. McKibbin, as a 13-year-old playing at McIlroy’s home club in Holywood, was invited by him to play in the Irish Open’s pro-am in 2016. The connections are as uplifting as they are strong.
Clarke’s description of seeing McIlroy win the Masters in April, completing his set of majors, is therefore understandable. “I watched every shot,” Clarke says. “I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Rory winning there was almost like watching my two boys, Tyrone and Conor, win. I was that emotional.
“I have known Rory for so long, I know his talent and his journey. To get over the line and do it, in true Rory fashion keeping us on the edge of our seats until the very end … It was destiny for Rory to join that exalted company. I was very proud just watching it. If I gave a 0.0001% help in his journey then brilliant but it was more pride, knowing him as I do. It isn’t often you will watch something and feel like you are watching your own two boys play.”
Clarke has never claimed any credit for McIlroy’s achievements. That will not change. McKibbin and Shane Lowry also had involvement with Clarke’s foundation. “I was just trying to help,” he says. “I don’t seek publicity for it because that isn’t why I do it. Half of my foundation is to support breast cancer research [his first wife, Heather, died of the disease in 2006], half is to help the development of junior golf in Ireland, so that is all close to my heart.”
The 56-year-old recalls not only that 1999 meeting but the early buzz around McIlroy. “I am not saying this to be all ‘I told you so’ but you could see back then how good he was, how much potential he had,” Clarke says. “Now, potential and turning into the player that he has become are two different things but the talent he showed even from that age was just incredible. He was gifted, totally gifted.”
All evidence suggests McIlroy has rediscovered his mojo after a brief post-Masters lull. Clarke knows the scenario; his life was hugely altered by lifting the Claret Jug in 2011. “I’m not in any shape or form comparing what I did with Rory but when you search and go for so long trying to achieve your goals, sometimes it is hard to have a reset afterwards,” Clarke says. “He has achieved what only five other people in the history of our game have, so it’s no wonder there is a reset for him. The reception he will get at Portrush will be unbelievable.”
Clarke’s own situation is fascinating on two fronts. He was on course to make the cut in 2019 before a nightmarish triple-bogey seven on his 36th hole. Clarke returns to the Dunluce Links, where the 9th hole has been named after him, knowing this could be his final Open. Motivation stems in part from events of six years ago.
“I was fuming,” he admits. “All my years of experience and to do that on the last hole … I had played so nicely. It wasn’t steam coming out of my ears, it was lava. The ‘new me’ as I get older? Bollocks to that! That irritated me a lot. It hurt me. I have never played tournaments just to make that cut but I was comfortably inside the line and to do that was beyond frustrating.”
Clarke is undecided on whether this Open will mean goodbye. He remains not only hugely competitive on the Champions Tour in the US but a prodigious worker. “I had gone through a spell of missing the Open cut too many times in a row but last year I actually played OK without having a great weekend. This year I have been playing really nicely without putting well. So I will see, I don’t know. I really haven’t made my mind up. If it gets to the stage where I think I have no chance of having a semi decent week, of making the cut, then I definitely won’t play.
“I love Portrush, that goes without saying. It is just a very special place for me. If this is to be my last one, there isn’t a better place. I am determined to really enjoy this one. Sometimes, I have tried so hard that I haven’t been able to enjoy where I am.”
Clarke was a staunch advocate of the Open’s return to Portrush after a 68-year hiatus. Peter Dawson, the former chief executive of the R&A, took on the case.
“I kept chirping at Peter’s ear,” Clarke says. “I think he ended up trying to avoid me at all costs. It was a bold move on his behalf to commit to bringing the Open to Portrush. It was great the last time; this one will be even better. They could easily just have come back for one but they didn’t, they committed.”
Clarke encountered the Troubles. He comprehends what it means for Northern Ireland to showcase itself now on a global sporting stage. “Bombs and shootings became part and parcel of life,” Clarke says. “You were always wary. I think playing golf and playing in tournaments all over Ireland from a young age got me thinking there was more going on, about what was happening back home not making any sense. We have come an awful long way from that.
“That’s not at all to say other places in the world haven’t had bad times but you grew up in a tough time. I was fortunate my parents gave me everything to allow me to play golf, which in turn let me see what opportunity was possible back in those days.”
The final words, and intriguing ones, are for McKibbin. “I have spent a lot of time with Tom, we have the same coach,” Clarke says. “He is the real deal. He just flushes the ball. He is eager, he wants to learn so much.” It feels sensible to take note.