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Darren Clarke insists he had no hesitation in accepting an invite to hit the opening tee shot as he reflected on the \u201cincredible journey\u201d which has brought the Open Championship back to Northern Ireland after an absence of 68 years.<\/p>\nDarren Clarke insists he had no hesitation in accepting an invite to hit the opening tee shot as he reflected on the \u201cincredible journey\u201d which has brought the Open Championship back to Northern Ireland after an absence of 68 years.<\/p>\n
Clarke, who owns a house overlooking Royal Portrush, is scheduled to get play under way at 6.35am local time on Thursday alongside Amateur Championship winner James Sugrue from Cork and American Charley Hoffman.<\/p>\n
The 50-year-old lifted the Claret Jug at Royal St George\u2019s in 2011 but has missed the cut in three of the last four years and would be well aware of the connotations attached to being an \u201chonorary starter\u201d.<\/p>\n
Colin Montgomerie performed the role in 2016 at Royal Troon, where his father was club secretary for more than 20 years, while Mark O\u2019Meara did so in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, scene of his 1998 victory, promptly drove out of bounds and struggled to an opening 81.<\/p>\n
Clarke was approached three weeks ago by R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers and said: \u201cMr Slumbers asked me if I would do them the honor of hitting the opening tee shot. It\u2019s Royal Portrush and when the R&A ask you, it\u2019s a definite yes. I said I\u2019d love it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve been here since 1951 and he asked me to do it and I happily accepted. Sometimes it can be a good draw teeing off here at half six in the morning too. We\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill there be tears? No. I\u2019ll just be very proud that we have it back here in Northern Ireland. It\u2019s a huge thing. It\u2019s going to be an amazing tournament. The atmosphere is going to be sensational.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former world number one Rory McIlroy, who was born 60 miles away on the outskirts of Belfast, was among those who never dreamt of being able to play a major championship on home soil.<\/p>\n
And it was indeed unthinkable for decades due to the Troubles, of which Clarke had life-threatening first-hand experience in 1986.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a job that I had setting up a bar and there was a bomb behind it,\u201d Clarke recalled. \u201cWe got a bomb scare at 8.30, everybody out, bomb went off at 9:00 and the place was flattened.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was life in Northern Ireland. Bombs were going off quite frequently. And a lot of people, unfortunately, paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But that was our life back there at that stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think about at that stage whether we were ever going to have a tournament such as this. It was beyond the realms of possibility. It was just never going to happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo to get to this point has been an incredible journey for what we\u2019ve all come through.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke\u2019s experience of Royal Portrush means he has been in demand for practice rounds in recent weeks, with the likes of Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Matt Wallace all taking advantage of his local knowledge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably told them too much really,\u201d Clarke joked. \u201cOf course I want to beat them. But at the same time, they\u2019re all good guys, I like them all. I\u2019ve been giving them whatever information that they wanted and a little bit more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe golf course has a few things that you really need to know about it, which holes to attack and which ones not to. The fairways are generous here but because there\u2019s so many different angles, picking your line off the tee and whatever club you\u2019re going to hit off that tee is vitally important.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clarke\u2019s own form means a fairy tale win is highly unlikely \u2013 although he has recorded three top 10s on the Champions Tour this season \u2013 but the likes of McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will carry the feverish home hopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always been good and bad, pretty hard on myself in the past,\u201d Clarke added. \u201cBut I\u2019m determined this week to enjoy it the best I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether I play well or don\u2019t play well, it\u2019s a huge thing for all the Irish golfers, for Northern Ireland, for me that lives here a little bit, to have the Open Championship. So I\u2019ll try and enjoy it as much as I possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n