Darren Clarke Finally Obtains Major Championship Glory

~ At Long Last! - After years of disappointing runner-ups and regular top-ten finishes, Darren Clarke has finally won his first major championship - at the age of 42 ~

Undoubtedly, there may have been times in which Darren Clarke wondered whether or not he would actually claim a major championship victory.

There were certainly many close calls - a runner-up finish at the 1997 British Open, during a championship in which many still believe he should have won, as well as a tie for third at the 2001 British Open, as he finished four strokes behind David Duval.

In the meantime, Clarke has played steadily well in many other majors, all the while obtaining six other top-ten finishes.

However, he always seemed to play his very best golf at the British Open - the one major championship that he treasured more than any other. Of course, it was only fitting that he finally claimed major championship success at the tournament he loved more than all others, on a links-style course - the type of course in which he generally plays superbly well at.

Throughout his career, Clarke has been well-known as a streaky player who, when he plays his very best golf, can compete against the world's top players, including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.

He had many victories and accolades to back up his streaky play - a win at the 2000 Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship (he defeated Tiger Woods in the 36-hole final during the prime of Woods' career), a victory at the 2003 NEC Invitational (another World Golf Championship event), and membership on five Ryder Cup teams, all the while earning a very respectable playing record of 10-7-3.

He had also fired a pair of 60s on the European Tour, finished second on the European Tour money list on three separate occasions, and earned 22 victories around the world, including 14 on the European Tour.

But, he was still known for being an underachiever...that is, until his wife Heather passed away from cancer in 2006 after a long and courageous battle.

After her passing, he was highly respected for his performance at the Ryder Cup, leading Team Europe to a memorable, dominating victory over Team USA - just one month after losing Heather.

Since then, Clarke has taken an uphill climb to once again become the high caliber player that he was during the early 2000s. In 2008, he won twice on the European Tour. This May he acquired his first European Tour victory since 2008 by defeating Chris Wood and David Lynn at the Iberdola Open in Spain.

This victory was followed, of course, by his three-stroke win at the Open Championship - a tournament in which he seemingly had complete control of his game, emotions, and the field - from day one until his final putt dropped.

But what is the actual reason for his latest success? Three words seem to sum up the method behind his most recent victories - stability at home.

Last December, his engagement to former Miss Northern Ireland Alison Campbell was announced. With a future wife and step-mother for his two sons, Darren appeared to be happier than he had been in years. Such happiness and fulfillment, as well as a steady home and family life, led him to finally achieve his childhood dream of becoming an Open champion - the Champion Golfer of the Year.

At the age of 42, Clarke's best playing days may still lie ahead of him. With the monkey of being one of the world's greatest golfers without a major championship victory off his back, there is no telling just how much Clarke will achieve throughout the coming decade.

With his fiance and two boys by his side, Clarke is genuinely happy for the first time since he lost Heather. Such happiness will likely lead to continued success - both on and off the golf course.

Of course, one fact remains certain. Even if Clarke fails to capture another major championship, or even a tournament from here on out, his name will forever be etched in golf's oldest and most coveted trophy - the claret jug.

For Clarke, there could not have been a much better story line for the second half of his playing career than that.


Darren Clarke's Worldwide Victories

1992 Ulster Professional Championship
1993 Alfred Dunhill Open
1994 Irish PGA Championship
1996 Linde German Masters
1998 Benson & Hedges International Open
1998 Volvo Masters
1999 Compass Group English Open
2000 Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship
2000 Compass Group English Open
2001 The Crowns
2001 Smurfit European Open
2001 Dimension Data Pro-Am
2002 Compass Group English Open
2003 NEC Invitational
2003 Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters
2004 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
2005 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
2008 BMW Asian Open
2008 KLM Open
2010 JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am
2011 Iberdola Open
2011 The Open Championship

Steve Stricker Earns Third Consecutive John Deere Classic Title

~ Three-peat! - This past Sunday, 11-time PGA TOUR winner Steve Stricker joined an elite list - he is one of only ten golfers since World War II to have won a PGA TOUR tournament three consecutive times. ~

Throughout the last five seasons, Steve Stricker has truly transformed his career. Since 2007 alone, he has won eight PGA TOUR titles, including such renowned championships as The Barclays, Memorial Tournament, and Deutsche Bank Championship.

His play has been especially inspirational when one considers just how much he struggled to maintain consistency from 2002 to 2005. In each of those seasons, he finished 88th, 188th, 151st, and 162nd on the PGA TOUR money list, respectively.

For some professional golfers, such finishes would have been highly respectable - but not for Stricker, an individual who once contended for the 1998 PGA Championship (finishing runner-up, two strokes behind Vijay Singh), dominated the 1996 Western Open (winning by eight shots), and defeated European Tour member Pierre Fulke for the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championship (a World Golf Championship event).

Without a doubt, Stricker was one of the TOUR's rising stars - and one of America's most talented golfers - throughout the mid and late 1990s, as well as the early 2000s.

Just when it seemed he was well-prepared to take his career to the next level after winning the Accenture Match Play Championship in 2001, Stricker soon lost his game - and his confidence - throughout the next few years.

But, what led Stricker to fall outside of the top 500 of the World Golf Rankings only a decade after he had contented for multiple major championships and had finished in the top 30 of the TOUR's money list on a regular basis?

Some point to the various injuries that Stricker endured, while others believe he lost confidence in his driving and putting, which led to inconsistent scoring and numerous missed cuts.

No matter the reason for his inconsistency, Stricker eventually lost his TOUR card after the 2005 season, ultimately relying on sponsor's exemptions throughout 2006.

Stricker's irregular play and results from 2002 to 2005 have surprisingly led to one of the greatest comebacks in PGA TOUR history.

In 2006, Stricker finished 34th on the TOUR's money list as he relied completely on the mercy of sponsor's exemptions. His efforts were well-noticed though as he was rewarded with the TOUR's Comeback Player of the Year award.

In 2007, Stricker defeated K.J. Choi by two shots for his first win on American soil in eleven years at The Barclays, a FedEx Cup playoff event. Upon winning the tournament, he finished fourth on the TOUR's money list and earned his second consecutive Comeback Player of the Year Award - the only golfer to have won the award more than once.

Stricker did not win a tournament the following season, but he still finished 22nd on the money list and contented in a wide array of tournaments, including the season-opener Mercedes Championship, which he lost in a playoff to Daniel Chopra.

In 2009 and 2010, Stricker acquired three and two PGA TOUR wins, respectively, all the while finishing second and fifth on the TOUR's money list. During each of those seasons, he also represented the United States as a member of the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams.

Therefore, Stricker's awe-inspiring play throughout 2011 has certainly not been surprising.

Following a one-stroke victory during May's Memorial Tournament, Stricker was clearly the favorite to win the 2011 John Deere Classic - for the third consecutive time.

He did not disappoint.

With rounds of 66, 64, 63, and 69, including a 25-foot putt for birdie and the victory during the tournament's 72nd hole, Stricker defeated TOUR rookie Kyle Stanley with a four-round total of 22-under-par.

In doing so, he joined a select class of golfers to have won at least three consecutive PGA TOUR events, including the likes of Arnold Palmer, Walter Hagen, Tiger Woods, and Johnny Miller.

Stricker's timing for low scoring is absolutely perfect.

As he continues to search for his first major championship victory, Stricker knows that, at age 44, Father Time is no longer on his side. Yet, he is also arguably playing some of the best golf of his career.

As a result, he is a clear favorite to win this year's Open Championship at Royal St. George's.

There are very few golfers who are more deserving of a major championship victory than Steve Stricker, especially when one considers his natural abilities, work ethic, and perseverance in order to complete one of the greatest comebacks in the history of golf.

For Stricker, and thousands of his fans, a victory during this week's Open would be the ultimate Cinderella story.

This Sunday could very well be the day that Stricker has waited his entire life for - the day in which he joins golf's most exclusive club....as a major champion.

Steve Stricker's PGA TOUR Victories

1996 Kemper Open
1996 Motorola Western Open
2001 Accenture Match Play Championship
2007 The Barclays
2009 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial
2009 John Deere Classic
2009 Deutsche Bank Championship
2010 Northern Trust Open
2010 John Deere Classic
2011 Memorial Tournament
2011 John Deere Classic

Other Accolades and Accomplishments

Member, 1996, 2007, and 2009 Presidents Cup
Member, 2008 and 2010 Ryder Cup
2006 and 2007 PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year

The Top Five Most Successful Young Golfers of All Time

~ Youthful Exuberance - Throughout the last two centuries, some of golf's greatest champions earned multiple major championship victories before the age of 25. But which golfers truly stand out for the success they enjoyed during their youths? ~

In honor of 22-year-old Rory McIlroy's dominating performance at this year's U.S Open championship, it is appropriate to remember some of the game's most successful younger champions.

The following five golfers are well-regarded for their career achievements, multiple tournament victories, and record-setting performances - which occurred before they celebrated their 25th birthdays.

1.) Bobby Jones

By the time Robert Tyre Jones Jr. retired from competitive golf at the age of 28, he was well-known as the most successful golfer in the history of the game.

With thirteen major championship victories, including a record-tying four U.S. Opens, three British Opens, five U.S. Amateurs, and one British Amateur, no one had ever enjoyed so much success in such a short time span.

Jones earned his first major championship at the age of 21 (at the 1923 U.S. Open) and claimed twelve more major victories throughout the next seven years.

To this day, his claim to fame remains the 1930 season in which he captured the Grand Slam - the U.S. Open, the British Open, the British Amateur, and the U.S. Amateur - during a single calendar year.

Even after 81 years, no other golfer has yet matched such a feat - and, likely, no one ever will.

2.) Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods is arguably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, golfers of all time. Whether or not he will eventually break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championship victories has yet to be determined.

But one fact is certain. Few golfers have ever dominated the game at such an early age like Woods.

From his twelve-shot triumph at the 1997 Masters (at the age of 21) to his fifteen-shot romp at the 2000 U.S. Open (at the age of 25), Woods has established, re-established, and once again broken multiple records, time after time - all before be celebrated his 30th birthday.

With more than 70 PGA TOUR wins and 14 major championship victories, no one has ever won at such a rapid - and consistent - pace in the history of the game.

No matter what Woods accomplishes in the future, he will always be remembered, along with Jones, as one of the two most successful young golfers of all time.

3.) Seve Ballesteros

The late Seve Ballesteros changed the landscape of European golf forever when he almost defeated Johnny Miller during the 1976 British Open at the tender age of 19.

Three years later, Ballesteros captured the claret jug to become one of the youngest winners in the history of the British Open championship. Upon doing so, he dominated world golf - and major championships - throughout the next five years.

In 1980, he became the youngest winner of the Masters Tournament. By 1984, at the age of 27, he had claimed two British Opens and two Masters, along with dozens upon dozens of tournaments in all four corners of the globe.

By the time he retired from the game in 2007, he had won 50 European Tour events, five major championships, and more than 90 tournaments across the world.

Amazingly, he had earned all of his professional victories before he was 40-years-old.

Few golfers have ever captured the attention - and imagination - of the sporting world like Ballesteros. He truly was one of a kind - and will always be remembered as one of the game's most likable personalities and most naturally gifted individuals.

4.) Young Tom Morris

On Christmas Day 1875, Young Tom Morris, the son of one of the game's founders, Old Tom Morris, tragically passed away at the age of 24.

Although his time on earth was far too short, his impact on the game remains as significant today as it was when he contended in multiple Open Championships throughout the 1860s and 1870s.

Morris competed in his first Open Championship when he was only 14-years-old. He finished in ninth place the following year and in fourth place in 1867, while he was still only 16-years-old.

In 1868, at the age of 17, Morris became the youngest major champion of all time after defeating his own father by three strokes at the Open Championship.

Morris would then claim three more Open Championships, including an 11-stroke victory in 1869 and a 13-stroke triumph in 1870 - all before he was 22-years-old.

He is still the only golfer to have won four consecutive Open Championships, as well as the only major champion to have claimed a title at the age of 17.

In addition, he, along with Tiger Woods, is the only golfer to have won a major championship by more than 12 strokes.

One can only wonder what else he would have accomplished had his life not ended so abruptly and tragically.

5.) Gene Sarazen

As golf commentators and fans remember some of the most talented champions of all time, they often forget to mention seven-time major champion Gene Sarazen.

But, throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Sarazen enjoyed one of the finest careers in golf history, especially when he captured multiple major championships during his early 20s.

In 1922, at the age of 20, Sarazen defeated Bobby Jones for his first U.S. Open victory. A few months later, he earned the 1922 and 1923 PGA Championships to become one of only a handful of individuals to have successfully defended the tournament.

Additionally, Sarazen won dozens of PGA TOUR events - 39 in total - all before he celebrated his 41st birthday.

Quite simply, few golfers have ever captured so many tournaments in such a time short time span - including all four of golf's major championships.

The "Squire," along with Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, changed professional and amateur golf throughout the 1920s and 1930s, allowing individuals like Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus to pave the way for today's generation.

As each of these five individuals, along with Rory McIlroy, proved on a regular basis, age is just a number.

Greatness can be achieved at all times and amidst all circumstances.

Yet, as golf's future champions prepare to leave indelible imprints on the game, two questions linger - which one of today's young golfers will dominate the game next - and what type of impact will they have on the future of golf?