Darren Clarke Thrives Thanks to Doctor’s Remedy

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece from Brian’s Irish Golf Desk is used with permission.

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

DARREN CLARKE JUMPED TO ATTENTION under doctor’s orders to putt his way into contention for major glory at the 140th Open Championship at Royal St. George’s. The Ulster veteran, 42, cracked five birdies for a super 68 to finish just three shots behind first-round leaders Tom Lewis and Thomas Bjorn and immediately thanked mental guru Dr Bob Rotella. Now Clarke’s second-round 68 has given him the clubhouse lead at 4 under par as play continues on Friday.

After using the blade just 28 times on Thursday, Clarke beamed: “I’ve been lucky this week and seen an old friend of mine in Bob Rotella. I haven’t seen him for quite some time and was able to catch up with him because my ball striking and tee-to-green stuff has been very good, very solid, but the putter has been poor.”

Asked what the Doc had ordered, Clarke said: “He charges me a lot of money, so I can’t tell you that. But he knows me inside out. We’ve worked together for a very long time.”

Clarke said before the start that he needed his putter to fire on all cylinders to win the Open at his 21st attempt. While he’s won three times since 2008 with his latest victory coming in Mallorca this season, his cold putter has prevented him from re-establishing himself in the world’s top 100.

Ranked 111th starting the week, he has been overshadowed in the ISM stable by major winners Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel and Rory McIlroy, as well as world No 2 Lee Westwood.

But Clarke showed he’s still a force to be reckoned with on links terrain as he survived some blustery early conditions and then took advantage of a drop in the wind late on Thursday afternoon.

Believing he’s got enough in the tank to keep it up, Clarke said: “I’m not that old yet, am I? I’m only 42. I still behave as if I’m 14.

“But no, I’m enjoying it. The golf course is great, fantastic. It’s the biggest and best tournament in the world. Why wouldn’t I enjoy it?”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

(Photo: Courtesy of zrim, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Y.E. Yang Takes Early Lead at Congressional

Editor’s note: I’m springing out of my armchair to spend the week at Congressional Country Club covering the 2011 U.S. Open. Share your U.S. Open thoughts: Comment below or email me at armchairgolfer@gmail.com.

THE 10TH IS A FRIGHTENING hole on Congressional’s Blue Course, a 218-yard par 3 that crosses a small lake. Few would choose to start their U.S. Open here, but many have no choice. For Y.E. Yang, the clubhouse leader after a 3-under 68, it was the perfect start. While others have nervously dunked their golf balls in the water (Phil Mickelson, for one), Yang smacked a 5-iron hybrid and watched it fly toward the green.

“It was a very straight, honest hit, and it landed quite well,” Yang said. The 2009 PGA Championship winner sank the putt for a birdie and was off to a round during which he birdied all four par 3s, a first in his career.

Carding five birdies and two bogeys, Yang put together nines of 3-under 33 and even-par 35 for his 68. The softer conditions resulting from overcast skies and cooler-than-normal temperatures helped the cause. It won’t get any easier, he said.

Yang believes his experience as a major winner can help him the rest of the way. “I know the feeling, and I know that it’s a little more of everything in a major than it is in other tournaments, so it’s easier for me to cope with that kind of pressure or expectations. It definitely has some kind of psychological advantage.”

Louis Oosthuizen and Ryan Palmer finished with 2-under 69s. A half-dozen players have completed play at 1-under 70, including defending champion Graeme McDowell, Stewart Cink and Davis Love III.

−The Armchair Golfer

Related:
2011 U.S. Open: ‘Big Blue’ Ready to Challenge Field of 156
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
2011 U.S. Open: Play the Groupings Name Game
2011 U.S. Open: A 16-Year-Old Player and Other Notes

Louis Oosthuizen Fires 67 With Eye Closed

ON SATURDAY MORNING IT seemed doubtful that Louis Oosthuizen would tee it up in the third round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship. The reigning British Open champion has been sick for a while. Last week he withdrew from the Honda Classic after the second round. Antibiotics had helped, but the infection had moved from his left eye to his right, which was swollen shut.

“It looked pretty bad,” Oosthuizen said at PGATour.com. “It was swollen badly and I couldn’t really see through it. I just iced it and got some eye drops put in.”

The eye felt OK an hour before his tee time, so the South African decided to start the round. But he also suspected he would hang it up after a few holes. “I just wanted to give myself a chance,” he said.

Putting five birdies on his card, Louis recorded a 31 on the opening nine. “The first seven holes I could have been seven under.” He took dead aim and didn’t worry about a thing, even though his right eye was swollen and watery, blurring his vision.

Oosthuizen got to 7 under on his round at the 16th before making a pair of closing bogeys to notch a 67. Still, not bad for a player whose right eye was described as a slit when he finished. Beware the ailing golfer.

Dustin Johnson (13 under) leads by two over Luke Donald, Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar heading into the final round at the Blue Monster.

−The Armchair Golfer

(Photo credit: Bob Stapleton, Flickr, Creative Commons license)

Rory’s New Wave Band

Editor’s note: Brian Keogh is a golf correspondent for The Irish Sun and a regular contributor to The Irish Times, Golf Digest Ireland and other golf publications. The following piece is excerpted from his blog, Irish Golf Desk. 

By Brian Keogh
Special to ARMCHAIR GOLF

RORY MCILROY WILL LEAD a hungry new generation of European young guns to Wisconsin in search of US PGA glory next month. The Holywood star, 21, bounced back brilliantly from his nightmare 80 in The Open to share third place behind stablemate Louis Oosthuizen.

And McIlroy’s manager Chubby Chandler reckons his young superstar is at the vanguard of a new wave of European talent set to sweep all before them in the same way that Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam dominated golf in the 80s and early 90s.

Chandler said: “After major wins by Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen, there will be a whole bunch of European Tour players going to Whistling Straits for the US PGA believing they can win.

“The days when Europeans looked uncomfortable leading majors seem to have gone. And it’s not just four or five players any more like it was in the 80s and 90s—there are 25 of them now who are going to the US PGA to win.

“Rory did great to finish third in the Open with an 80 in the second round. It was a really great comeback and I don’t think what happened on Friday will make any difference to him. He knows exactly where he is going in the game and this is just a step along the way.”

McIlroy must believe he is heading for greatness and his rivals can only pray that he doesn’t address the weaknesses in his game. At St. Andrews, as the American writer Dan Jenkins pointed out over a cigarette on Saturday, McIlroy was too young to realise that a 75 was a good score on Friday afternoon.

“He learned something every day at St Andrews,” Chandler said as his ISM stable celebrated its first major win on Monday. “Day one—he led a major by two. Day two he takes 80 after getting knocked out of his rhythm by the weather delay. He won’t do that very often when he’s leading majors.

“He came back unbelievably well on the last two days to finish third so there are more positives than negatives for Rory. He now knows that you don’t go out and win a major first time, like Louis has done. Normally you have to earn it—just look at what Lee [Westwood] is going through.”

Brian Keogh covers golf for The Irish Sun and contributes to a variety of golf publications. Pay him a visit at Irish Golf Desk.

Oosthuizen Joins Venerable South African Open Champions

IT MUST BE SINKING in for Louis Oosthuizen. Not only is his name engraved on the Claret Jug along with golf’s greatest players, Louis has added himself to the esteemed list of Open champions from the Republic of South Africa.

They include Bobby Locke, Gary Player, Ernie Els and now the low-key, machine-like Oosthuizen.

(Photo: The great Bobby Locke.)

Between 1949 and 1957, Locke won four Open titles. Some of the old-time pros have told me that Locke was the greatest putter they ever saw. After playing exhibition matches with Locke, Sam Snead told the South African he ought to come to America. Sam said his peers ended up mad at him because Locke took Sam’s advice and not long after took home a lot of money from the States.

A nine-time major winner, Player won three Open Championships over a 15-year span. Gary could keep the ball low and was a short-game magician, including one of the greatest bunker players of all time.

Els won his Claret Jug in 2002 at Muirfield and couldn’t be prouder of Oosthuizen. Louis got a jump start in golf through Els’ foundation. Today Ernie wrote about the newest South African champion in his weekly diary:

I take great pleasure in congratulating Louis Oosthuizen on his fantastic victory. Honestly, it could not have happened to a better person. I played a practice round with him last Sunday and, typically for him, he didn’t give himself a chance. He is a quiet and unassuming guy, but he has shown everyone what a great champion he is.

In closing, Ernie added:

I’m so pleased for Louis and, as I said before, it couldn’t have happened to a better person. As Open Champion his life will change, but he won’t. He’s simply a wonderful kid and what he’s done will inspire so many young kids back home in South Africa.

As Mike of Ruthless Golf has been saying since springtime, here come the South Africans.

−The Armchair Golfer

Shrek V Plods Along But Has Happy Ending

CONGRATULATIONS, LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN. You amazed me. If Tiger, or Phil, or Lee, or Ernie, or Rory, or (fill in the blank) shot 16 under on the Old Course and won The Open Championship by seven strokes, the world would be at his feet.

I have to ask: Did you really know it was The Open Championship? I heard you mention it several times, but I still can’t help but wonder. Few untested players drop in on golf’s oldest major and make it look like they won their fourth consecutive men’s club championship.

They call you “Shrek,” so I’m going to run with the Shrek angle because I still can’t make sense of what I saw. I just can’t. I mean you no disrespect, but it seemed like pure fantasy. 200-1 odds and all that stuff about your name. My apologies in advance.

You were an ogre. You ogre-handled the field. You made the Old Course your swamp. It looked like Prince Charming (Paul Casey) would try to steal the day but it just wasn’t going to happen. Shrek rules! Donkey (your caddie) never left your side and kept you in great spirits. You were smiling and laughing from the outset of the quest. I liked Tiger, Phil and JD cast as the Three Blind Mice because they couldn’t buy a putt.

It was a super plot. Only DreamWorks could come up with something like that. No one was expecting it, a total surprise. If I have a criticism, it’s that the show dragged in the middle. I started wondering when it would end. Here was the problem: You never looked like you were in danger. To be honest, it didn’t seem like Prince Charming (or anyone else) had a chance. It was way too easy. Someone should talk to the writers.

The animation was not up to its usual standards (except for the ball tracer on the Road Hole). Nor was it the funniest Shrek movie I’ve ever seen. Sorry. However, on the plus side, I liked the ending a lot. That closing scene where you kiss Princess Fiona (Nel-Mare) with the baby in her arms was terrific.

I give you a thumbs up, Louis “Shrek” Oosthuizen. I hope there’s a sequel for you.

−The Armchair Golfer