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I am extremely disappointed with the way I played the final round of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai, but I must admit I was among the thousands of friends and fans around the world who celebrated the fantastic return of Darren Clarke into the winner’s circle.
The Ryder Cup superstar finally won his first title in five years — also his first since the death of his wife Heather in 2006 — and the Ulsterman did it with style when he rammed home a birdie putt on the final hole of the demanding Thomson Pudong course from almost 30ft. That was good enough to give him a one-stroke win over Dutchman Robert-Jan Derksen.
I really need not go into Darren’s story. It’s been well documented and everyone knows what pain and hardship he had to go through over the past four years or so.
I’ve been playing with him for almost a decade now, but I’ve come to know him much better in the past couple of years ever since I joined Chubby Chandler’s management company, ISM, which also manages Darren’s day-to-day affairs.
And I can tell you there is absolutely no secret why he is so popular with the fans, media and his fellow players. When you are as wonderful a person as Darren is, such things just happen.
To give you a very small example of how Darren operates, he made a hole-in-one during the Indonesian Open earlier this year. There was a huge LCD TV on offer for an ace on that particular hole, and without even thinking twice, Darren donated the TV, worth at least a couple of thousand pounds, to the caddy shack of the golf club.
Is it a surprise that Darren won the tournament? Not at all. He is determined to do well, and he is working extremely hard on his game. And most importantly, he is so eager to play and get back into the top bracket of the world rankings.
Going into the final day, I was inside the top 10 and was looking forward to a good round on a course which has been good to me in the past. Darren was seven shots ahead of me, but a top-five finish was there for the taking.
However, I drove the ball poorly, made two double bogeys on the front nine, and could post no better than a 76. I will look back at this tournament as a missed opportunity.
After the sojourn in Japan, I will take a week off and prepare for the European Tour events in Europe, starting with the Irish Open.
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