Darren Clarke

Darren Clarke was 42 when, in 2011, he became the oldest player to lift the Claret Jug since Roberto de Vicenzo in 1967.

In his 20th appearance, he defeated Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson by three strokes at Royal St George's, five years after a remarkable unbeaten display in a Ryder Cup match played at The K Club in Ireland just six weeks after his first wife Heather died of breast cancer.

He had previously finished joint runner-up to Justin Leonard at Royal Troon in 1997 and tied third when David Duval won at Royal Lytham and St Annes in 2001. He played The 151st Open in 2023 not only as a past winner, but also as the reigning Senior Open champion.

A distinguished career, rewarded in 2012 with an OBE, also includes two World Golf Championship wins, the 2000 Andersen-Consulting Match Play seeing him beat Tiger Woods in the final, top-10 finishes in the other three major championships and 14 victories on the DP World Tour, where he is the only player to have had two rounds of 60.

After five Ryder Cup caps as a player, four of them bringing wins, he captained Europe at Hazeltine in 2016.

Clarke also hit the opening shot on The Open’s return to Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush in 2019.