Tag Archives: Darren Clarke

Is Clarke The Right Man To Captain Europe?

Well as you all know by now Darren Clarke has been appointed European Ryder Cup Captain for 2016 which seems to be a popular choice among fans and player alike, and no doubt his current sponsors will be very happy with the publicity.

Clarke has won the Ryder Cup 4 times as a player which will stand him good stead as he prepares for seemingly one of the biggest weeks of his life next year in America. He has been victorious under the captaincy of Seve, Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and lastly Ian Woosnam in which Darren Clarke bravely lead Europe to victory in Ireland after the death of his wife a week earlier.

Next September the event will be held at Hazeltine National Golf Course in Minnesota, and Clarke will be up against good friend and opponent Davis Love III who will be trying to heal the wounded tiger that is the US team, after many years of domination by Europe.

The last time Europe were defeated in America was under the captaincy of Nick Faldo who didn’t conduct himself amazingly well in Valhalla in 2008. I really we hope we see a professional approach from Clarke as he is known as a bit of a ‘boy’ on the tour and does like to party, but I guess we will only find this out as time goes on…

I’m sure it will definitely be as fiercely contested as ever and will be another great spectacle for this game we all love. It’s a long time to wait, but I remember thinking that when I was waiting for the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, and look where that time as gone!

Bjorn Again In The Ryder Cup?

Thomas Bjorn has been in a rich vain of form recently and after his win at the European Masters in Switzerland at the weekend he has propelled himself to the top of the European Ryder Cup points list. 

Although he’s  been playing well, it was his first win since he won the same event two years ago and the 14th of his career.

Former peers have been taking notice and Northern Irishman Darren Clarke has tipped him to make the team at Gleneagles next September .

Bjorn has been involved in many Ryder Cup over the years, not only as a player but as a vice captain as well, but he will want to be teeing it up as a player next time round for sure. I mean, who wouldn’t?

Clarke Returns After Hamstring Tennis Injury

Former Open champion Darren Clarke returns to action this week after missing nearly six weeks with a hamstring injury caused by playing tennis.

The injury forced him to miss the first major of the year at Augusta, but the Northern Irishman is back to full fitness and will be playing golf in this week’s Indonesian Masters in Jakarta. 

It’s been tough for Clarke sitting around doing nothing for the past few weeks, and very frustrating watching his fellow professionals battling it out at the Masters on television, but after a full recovery he can’t wait to be out on the fairways once again.

Monty In Late Running To Get Ryder Cup Job Again

World number one Rory McIlroy is giving his full support to Paul McGinley on getting the job as 2014 Ryder Cup captain despite reports claiming Colin Montgomerie will be given the task to lead Europe once again.

The European Tour is set to announce the decision on Tuesday. Whoever gets the nod will be up against a very strong captain in Tom Watson and a very strong American team no doubt. There wasn’t any mention of Monty being involved until recent weeks but he is now favourite to take charge at Gleneagles.

Paul McGinley is Motgomerie’s only real contender now Darren Clarke is out of the running, and if Monty is chosen he will have the chance to win back-to-back Ryder Cups which was last achieved by Tony Jacklin when he won in 1985 & 1987.

Without doubt Paul McGinley would make a great captain and has done a great job as vice captain in recent years but I think Monty will get the job after such a spirited comeback last year and of course his tremendous record as a Ryder Cup player to boot.

 

McIlroy ‘Should He Stay Or Should He Go?’

Yesterday Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy revealed  that he might not compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro to stay clear of any controversy which might occur over which country the 23 year old should represent.

The world No 1 who is from the beautiful County Down in Northern Ireland, could play for either the Republic of Ireland or Great Britain in Brazil when golf is due to be a part of the Games again for the first time since 1904.

“If I could and there was a Northern Irish team I’d play for Northern Ireland. Said McIlroy

When it was announced that golf was returning to the Olympics  back in 2009 McIlroy announced he would “probably play for Great Britain” which he also repeated last year, but he has now had second thoughts.

To be honest, does it really matter who he plays for? As long as golf is back in the Olympics for everyone to see and McIlroy gets to show his talent to a much wider audience it can only be good for the game.

The Major Winners So Far, But Who’s Next?

We’re coming to the end of the major season already and I for one can’t believe where the time has gone. The PGA Championship starts on the 9th August at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island.

Still can’t believe it was nearly four months ago we saw Bubba Watson hit that amazing miracle shot from out of the trees in a play-off with Louis Oosthuizen at Augusta National to claim the Green Jacket and The Masters title.

We then saw Webb Simpson claim the US Open and his first major title at the Olympic Club in San Francisco pipping Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell by one shot around a very tough golf course.

Of course fresh in our memory still is the Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes which brought us great drama in the final stages and saw Adam Scott crumble under pressure to let Big Ernie win. All eyes were on Tiger Woods that week, and he did show signs of form and was in contention before a triple bogey in the final round left him with too much to do.

With so many of the top ranked players in the world not performing in the majors this year, will they see this as a chance to end the major season on high? The likes of Luke Donald and Lee Westwood will be hoping so, maybe just maybe they will get that monkey off their back!

Bourdy Takes Lead After Fast Start

Grégory Bourdy gave the chasing pack hope when he failed to capitalise on a fantastic start to his Irish Open second round at Royal Portrush.

Bourdy with Indian Jeev Milkha Singh were joint overnight leaders, he eagled the long second and after ten holes had reached 13 under par – three clear of second place.

But after bogeying the par threes 11th and 14th, the 30 year old’s advantage was back down to one again.

Lorenzo Gagli was in second place on ten under after a 66 while Welshman Jamie Donaldson just one further back following a 67 that contained five successive birdies.

Home favourites Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke both shot 69 to get to five under and four under respectively but still have a lot of work to do if they are to challenge at the weekend.

Irish Open To Hit Record Sales

Today the European Tour announced that it’s taking the unprecedented step of telling all fans who are planning to attend the Irish Open to buy their tickets in advance to avoid disappointment of missing out on the action at Royal Portrush Golf Club in June.

At the Northern Ireland Tourist Board headquarters in Belfast, the European Tour, as event organisers, also told about detailed Traffic and Transportation plans including adding a Translink coach, rail and Park & Ride services. These are designed to ensure that spectators have ease of access to the event, and to minimise the disruption to the neighbouring community on the roads surrounding Portrush.

Pre-tournament ticket sales for the event, being staged in Northern Ireland for the first time in nearly 60 years, have exceeded all expectations.

The first day of the tournament is on the 28th June,

Dyson ready for Irish title defence

It’s been 15 years since somebody successfully defend the Irish Open, but Simon Dyson will try and do so and take the trophy at the €2million event which takes place at Royal Portrush Golf Club from June 28-July 1.

Dyson shot 2 rounds of 67 over the weekend at last year’s Irish Open which earned him his sixth European Tour title, and the Yorkshireman is now trying to follow in the footsteps of Colin Montgomerie, who won the title in 1996 and 1997.

With only dropping 3 shots at Killarney Golf & Fishing Club last year in a fantastic display which he labelled his “best of the year”, Dyson is hopeful those memories will act as the catalyst for a successful title defence  at Royal Portrush who are holding the Irish Open for the first time since 1947.

Scott favourite for first win in Korea

Adam Scott is looking to tread on new ground this week in Ballantine’s Championship just outside Seoul.

Scott has won four titles on Asian Soil out of his eight European Tour titles. He’s had victory’s in China, Singapore and Qatar (twice) but no victory in South Korea.

The Australian hopes to put that right at the Blackstone Golf Club this week and he’s the favourite to do so.

“It’s true that I’ve enjoyed playing in Asia over the years and I have had a certain amount of success which is great,”

Scott’s last tournament was The Masters where he finished eighth so he’s happy with his game ahead of his 0730 tee-off time.

He is playing alongside Alex Noren and local Bae Sang-moon.