Irish golfer Darren Clarke is in line for a £2m pay-out if he can carry over his good form from the Irish and European Opens to the Open championship at Royal Lytham next week. Clarke signed a sponsorship deal at the start of the season which guarantees him £2m for every major victory during the term of the deal. Although he has not yet collected a major trophy, his second-place finish and victory at the Irish and European Opens respectively means he is going into this year's Open championship at just the right time.
"It's great to be back on the winning trail. I'm trying to put the pieces together that will make me a better player and my game is going in the right direction," explained Clarke after his victory on Sunday. " I was more calm and focused than I've ever been in the last round here. Better even than I was when I beat Tiger Woods last year," he added.
That statement should come as a strong warning to the rest of the field at Royal Lytham as many golf commentators see the Open as Clarke's best opportunity of winning a major. At Troon in 1997 Clarke led the Open by four strokes after nine holes of the third round but his inexperience cost him the title and he eventually finished joint second behind winner Justin Leonard.
However, in the four years since that championship, Clarke has experienced many highs and lows and, having become the first native to win a tour event on Irish soil since John O'Leary in 1982, victory in the Open would cap off a wonderful July for the Ulsterman.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
