62 Facts About Darren Clarke

Darren Clarke has won 21 tournaments worldwide on a number of golf's main tours including the European Tour, the PGA Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the Japan Golf Tour.

Darren Clarke was ranked in the top-10 of the Official World Golf Ranking for 43 weeks between 2000 and 2002.

Darren Clarke is currently ranked as the seventh highest career money winner on the European Tour.

Darren Clarke has represented Ireland as both an amateur and as a professional, notably at the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup, and was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup teams between 1997 and 2006.

Darren Clarke was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and in 1987 he played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University in the United States.

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Darren Clarke was a junior member of Dungannon Golf Club, whose junior section included three others who are current PGA Golf Professionals: Alistair Cardwell, Barry Hamill and Gary Chambers.

Darren Clarke represented his school, Royal School Dungannon, together with Cardwell and Chambers.

Darren Clarke turned professional in 1990 and played his first full season on the European Tour in 1991.

Darren Clarke contested in his first major championship at the 1991 Open Championship, making the cut before finishing in a tie for 64th place.

In 1992 Darren Clarke had a solid season on the European Tour, finishing 41st in overall Order of Merit, in doing so achieving his highest finish of his career at the time with a second-place finish at the Honda Open.

In October 1993, Darren Clarke won his maiden European Tour event at the Alfred Dunhill Open in Belgium.

Darren Clarke had the lead after 54 holes and held off the challenge of Englishman Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh, who shot a final-round 64.

Darren Clarke played in his first US Open although he missed the cut and had his highest finish, at the time, in The Open Championship with a tie for 38th place.

In 1995, Darren Clarke had better success, with seven top-10s in 27 events, most notably at the Portuguese Open where he finished second after losing a sudden-death playoff to Adam Hunter on the first extra hole, despite having the joint 54-hole lead.

In 1996, Darren Clarke won his second European Tour title at the Linde German Masters by one stroke, shooting a final round 63 to finish 24 under par, one stroke ahead of Englishman Mike Davis.

Darren Clarke recorded his best finish in a major, at that current time, with a tie for 11th place at The Open Championship in 1996.

Darren Clarke equalled his best finish on the Order of Merit, placing in 8th for the season.

In May 1997, Darren Clarke finished second at the Volvo PGA Championship, two strokes behind Ian Woosnam.

In July 1997, Darren Clarke was in a position to win his first major championship at the 1997 Open Championship at Royal Troon.

Darren Clarke held the lead with American Jim Furyk after the first round and then pulled two strokes clear of the field after a 66 in the second round, but a third-round 71 put him two strokes behind leader Jesper Parnevik going into the final day.

In 1998, Darren Clarke made his first appearances at two of the biggest golf events worldwide.

Darren Clarke then had three more 2nd-place finishes during the season before winning the season-ending Volvo Masters in Spain.

Darren Clarke missed only one cut all year, at the Murphy's Irish Open.

In 1999, Darren Clarke captured his fifth European Tour win at the Compass Group English Open, finishing two strokes ahead of John Bickerton.

Darren Clarke achieved his highest ever placing at the US Open this year when he finished tied for 10th place.

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Darren Clarke had a difficult route through the championship but defeated a host of big name players: Paul Azinger, Mark O'Meara, Thomas Bjørn, Hal Sutton and David Duval before taking on Woods in the final.

Darren Clarke recorded his best finish at the PGA Championship with a tie for 9th place.

Darren Clarke had three 2nd-place finishes in the 2000 season, which included eleven top-10 finishes.

Darren Clarke finished 2nd on the Order of Merit and it was his highest ever season in terms of prize money.

Darren Clarke added to his list of European Tour wins at the Smurfit European Open, which he won by three strokes at The K Club.

Darren Clarke then had another notable 3rd-place finish at the WGC-NEC Invitational, earning in excess of €400,000.

Darren Clarke then played on the European Tour in the summer and won his ninth career title at the Compass Group English Open, becoming the first man to win the tournament three times.

However, Darren Clarke did not have to wait much longer for more WGC success though, when he won his second WGC event at the WGC-NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.

Darren Clarke continued his run of good form at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2004, when he finished third.

Darren Clarke lost to Davis Love III in the semi-final on the 21st hole, but beat Stephen Leaney 2-up in the resulting 3rd place playoff match.

Darren Clarke had a good finish at the WGC-American Express Championship, finishing in a tie for 4th place.

Darren Clarke played the 2005 season half and half between the European Tour and the PGA Tour.

Darren Clarke enjoyed a solid season with many top-10 finishes, but he could not climb the final hurdle of winning an event.

In 2006, Darren Clarke only managed to record four top-10 placings and finished the year 43rd on the Order of Merit.

Darren Clarke withdrew from a number of events in the year and finished 143rd on the Order of Merit list.

Darren Clarke ended his winless streak in April 2008 when he won the BMW Asian Open in an emotional victory after a birdie on the 72nd hole to see off Robert-Jan Derksen by one stroke.

Darren Clarke won again in the Netherlands at the KLM Open finishing the tournament four shots ahead of Paul McGinley.

Darren Clarke ended his comeback year 13th in the Order of Merit Standings, however he missed out on a place in Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team, the first time Darren Clarke had done so in over 10 years.

Darren Clarke only managed to record three top-10 finishes during the whole of 2009, most notably tying for 5th place in the defence of his KLM Open title in the Netherlands.

Darren Clarke finished 61st in the Race to Dubai Standings and missed out a place in the season ending finale narrowly by finishing outside the top 60.

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Darren Clarke was aided by two second-place finishes throughout the season at the Joburg Open behind winner Charl Schwartzel and then at the Barclays Scottish Open ending up three strokes behind Edoardo Molinari.

In 2011, Darren Clarke won his first European Tour title since August 2008 with a three-stroke victory over Chris Wood and David Lynn in the Iberdrola Open.

In November 2020, Darren Clarke won the TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Florida for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions.

Darren Clarke collected his second win at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii just 3 months later.

In September 2021, Clarke won the Sanford International in a playoff over K J Choi and Steve Flesch.

In July 2022, Darren Clarke won his first senior major championship at The Senior Open Championship, played at Gleneagles in Scotland.

Darren Clarke became the fourth player in history to win both The Open Championship and The Senior Open Championship.

Darren Clarke has represented Ireland as both an amateur and as a professional, most notably at the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup.

Darren Clarke was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup teams in 1997,1999,2002,2004 and 2006, winning on four occasions and was appointed a non-playing vice captain by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 and by Paul McGinley in 2014.

Heather had loved the Ryder Cup and encouraged Darren Clarke to compete in it, so he made himself available for selection.

Darren Clarke was named as the 2016 Ryder Cup captain on 18 February 2015.

Darren Clarke was selected by a five-man selection panel consisting of the last three Ryder Cup captains: Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, another ex-Ryder Cup player David Howell and the European Tour chief executive George O'Grady.

Darren Clarke met his wife Heather in a nightclub in Portrush, County Antrim, and they married in March 1996.

Heather Darren Clarke died on Sunday 13 August 2006 at 39 years of age, in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

Darren Clarke had previously stated he did not want to win with a sympathy vote after his wife's death.

On 6 April 2011, Darren Clarke was photographed by Kevin Abosch for The Face of Ireland project.

Darren Clarke was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to golf.