Biography

Darren Clarke

Clarke has featured in the top 10 in the Official World Golf Rankings. The most prestigious titles he has won are the 2000 WGC - World Match Play Championship when he defeated Tiger Woods in the final, and the 2003 WGC - NEC Invitational. His highest finish on the European Tour money list is second, which he achieved in 1998, 2000 and 2003. He has represented Ireland in the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup and played for Europe on four consecutive Ryder Cup teams 1997 1999 2001 (2002) and 2004.

In 2005 he missed several tournaments to care for his wife, who was suffering from cancer.

Although much of 2005 was spent away from the course, the Ulsterman nevertheless managed to notch six top ten finishes in 14 European Tour outings on his way to 20th on the Order of Merit. Also successfully defended his Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters crown in Japan at the end of the season to maintain his record of having won somewhere around the world every year since 1998.

In February 2000, he became the first European golfer to win a World Golf Championships event, capturing the Accenture Match Play, beating David Duval in the semi-final and Tiger Woods in the 36 hole final at La Costa Resort and Spa, before becoming the only player, apart from Woods, to have more than one WGC success to his name when he won the 2003 NEC Invitational at Firestone Country Club. Not a stranger to ‘firsts’ however.

In the 1999 Smurfit European Open he became the first player on The European Tour to shoot 60 for a second time, having achieved it first in the 1992 European Monte Carlo Open – and owns a car registration DC 60 in reference to those rounds. In 2001 he became the first Irishman to win on home soil since John O’Leary in 1982, when he captured the Smurfit European Open, and in 2002, became the first player to win the English Open three times. Has also been part of a winning European Ryder Cup Team on three occasions, the most recent at Oakland Hills when he claimed three and a half points out of five. Helped organise a special Pro-Am at Portmarnock in September 1998 in aid of the victims of the Omagh bombing tragedy. Played in, and won the inaugural Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters on the 2003 Challenge Tour and donated his €35,877 cheque to his own Darren Clarke Foundation, to help further the development of junior golf in Ireland.

European Tour wins

1993 Alfred Dunhill Open
1996 Linde German Masters
1998 Benson and Hedges International Open, Volvo Masters
1999 Compass Group English Open
2000 WGC-Anderson Consulting World Matchplay Championship, Compass Group English Open
2001 Smurfit European Open
2002 Compass Group English Open 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational

Other professional wins

1992 Ulster Professional Championship
1994 Irish National PGA Championship
2001 Dimension Data Pro-Am, Chunichi Crowns (Japan Golf Tour)
2003 Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters (Challenge Tour)
2004 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters (Japan Golf Tour)
2005 Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters (Japan Golf Tour)

Professional team appearances

Ryder Cup (Europe): 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners)
Alfred Dunhill Cup (Northern Ireland): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
World Cup (Northern Ireland): 1994, 1995, 1996
The Seve Trophy (Great Britain & Ireland): 2000, 2002 (winners) 

Amateur wins

1990 Spanish Amateur Open Championship, Irish Amateur Championship

Reference:

http://www.europeantour.com/publish.sps?pageid=127&pagegid=%7BAB0336D2%2DD3C9%2D469B%2DBCB6%2DBFD443B52A34%7D&playerId=5889
http://www.darrenclarke.com/ism/sites/clarke/gallery.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Clarke