• Open Championship, Day Four

Claret Jug reward for Clarke's enduring popularity

Darren Clarke was a hugely popular Open champion © Getty Images

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• Profile: Darren Clarke

In the end, it came down to one five-iron from the middle of the 18th fairway.

Put it in the middle of the green, or even near the green - heck, anywhere apart from the road at the back of the green - and Darren Clarke would be the 2011 Open champion.

One solid five-iron, and he'd win the fabled Claret Jug at his 20th attempt - making Nick Price's previous record wait of 15 goes before victory look like a spectacular lack of patience.

One solid five-iron, and the man from Northern Ireland would have a bit of personal glory after seeing two countrymen much his junior, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, win majors of their own in the past year or so.

One solid five-iron and the 42-year-old would have a bit of personal glory for himself after experiencing the very worst life can throw at a man.

The man himself would never suggest that past suffering should give him a 'right' to realise what is frequently referred to as his "dream" of lifting the Claret Jug, so it would be remiss of anyone else to make that leap, but nevertheless the challenges he has faced off the course add an emotional piquancy to his greatest triumph of all on it.

Five years ago, lest anyone has forgotten, Clarke lost his wife Heather to breast cancer. He returned three weeks later to provide an emotional yet key part in Europe's retention of the Ryder Cup at the K Club. "Everyone goes through difficulties, and I've had a pretty tough one," was about as far as Clarke would elaborate on the matter. "There's obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me. But she'd be more proud of my two boys."

One solid five-iron and he could show those two boys, Tyrone and Conor, that good things can happen as long as you always give everything you have. "I ask my two boys to always do their best and that's what they do," he noted. "I can't ask them for any more, so I think their dad should try and do the same."

One solid five-iron and Darren Clarke wouldn't just be arguably the most popular man in golf; he'd be a major champion too. "It's incredible. Incredible right now."

In the end it wasn't the best iron shot the 42-year-old has hit (although, in fairness, he's hit a fair few contenders for that title over the past few days), but it was more than solid enough to get the job done. Just drifting off the back left edge of the putting surface on the 72nd hole, from there he could putt in, leave a ten-footer for par short of the hole, take the time to mutter a few words to no-one in particular, and still take victory with the simplest of tap-ins.

"I can't really remember what I said to myself at the time," he said, when asked to recall those precious seconds when victory had been secured but the formalities still to be completed. "It was something like 'You've done it at last'."

That he had.

It was perhaps unsurprising, considering everything he has been through, that many of Clarke's doubts were in the mind. A Wednesday lesson of both putting and mentality from Dr. Bob Rotella helped, yet even from the start of the week there was the sense among those closest to him that the stars were aligning nicely for him.

With the tournament won, Clarke had a moment to reflect © PA Photos

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"Darren always said this was his best chance of winning a major, the British Open and at 42 he didn't think he'd have too many chances," his caddie, John Mulrooney, revealed. "When we got to St George's we were given Greg Norman's locker [Norman won the championship at St George's in 1993] and we always felt it was meant to be this week.

"Tom Watson said it could be a lucky locker for us. It made a massive difference getting that locker."

"I have to stay neutral," his manager, Chubby Chandler, warned The Guardian earlier in the week. "Okay. Why don't we say this - wouldn't it be a great story if Darren Clarke finally won an Open championship."

Prescient? Perhaps. And once he was on the course and off to a good start on Thursday, the crowd at Royal St George's rallied behind him, long before it became clear he was heading towards victory. "They were sensational for me all week. They really were," Clarke said of the cheers from the gallery. "It was just brilliant to have that amount of support. The fans could not have been any better for me this week."

There's a reason for his popularity, just as there's a reason Clarke received encouraging text messages on Saturday night (and a congratulatory tweet on Sunday evening) from Tiger Woods. There's a reason he shared a heartfelt moment with Phil Mickelson on the way to the presentation ceremony.

There's a reason Chandler was choked up at the success of the first notable client he ever had - even if he might have every reason to be inoculated against the charms of a major victory after seeing two other charges (Charl Schwartzel and Rory McIlroy) win the other two already completed this year.

There's a reason the crowds cheered wildly for a man previously 111th in the world rankings and 10 years removed from his last serious challenge in this event. There's a reason for all that, even if he can't quite put his finger on it.

"I guess I'm a bit of a normal bloke, aren't I really?" he said, sipping from a Guinness that had just been presented to him. "I like to have a pint, go to the pub and be normal. There are not many airs and graces about me. I'm just a normal guy playing golf, having a bit of fun."

Hopefully he can now have much more. Clarke is a deserved victor after the way he's played this week. It's a triumph of huge personal and professional significance that he'll feel acutely but may never fully be able to put into words.

It is to Clarke's great credit that he doesn't need to. We might not experience his success in the same way as the man himself, but the fact we can all take some emotional payoff away from Sunday's denouement says as much about Clarke the person as his three-stroke victory says about Clarke the golfer.

"It may be the only major that I win, it may not be the only major that I win," he noted. "But at least I've gone out there and I did my best - and my best was good enough to win."

Funnily enough, his best was always good enough to win our respect and admiration. Now, one solid five-iron and a moment of reflection over a two-inch putt later, he has a tangible trophy to that effect.

The Claret Jug.

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