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Clarke blasts 'ridiculous' McIlroy criticism

Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke have both won majors this year © Getty Images

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• Profile: Darren Clarke | Rory McIlroy

Darren Clarke has launched a passionate defence of Rory McIlroy in the face of suggestions the young Ulsterman has been swept up by the celebrity lifestyle.

McIlroy was feted as the future of golf following his runaway success at the US Open this year, and has subsequently begun a high-profile relationship with world No. 1 tennis player Caroline Wozniacki.

His public profile has been raised significantly as a result, leaving every move under the microscope. And eyebrows were raised when he opted to split from Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler's management team during October - a move that, in the eyes of some, suggested success had gone to McIlroy's head. But Clarke, who won the Open Championship this year, has stuck up for the 22-year-old.

"What I would say to those who criticise Rory is to ask themselves, 'What were you doing at 22?' Let's recognise he's already winning majors and growing up in public," Clarke told the Daily Mail. "Yes, some of his public comments, they'll get a little more subtle as he gets older. But to make comparisons with George Best and to wonder if he has become too interested in the celebrity lifestyle is ridiculous. People who say that just don't know Rory, and how focused he is on his game.

"I hope this doesn't sound sycophantic but I do believe he is the future of golf. The quality of his ball-striking is sensational, he just flushes it every time. I played with Tiger [Woods] in 2000 when he was winning everything and the sound of his ball coming off the clubface was different to everyone else, and Rory has that same ability.

"As for him changing managers, I don't have a problem with him leaving Chubby [Clarke is also managed by Chandler]. He didn't confide in me and I'm glad he didn't because then I would have had to have kept something from Chubby."

Meanwhile, Clarke has moved to scotch claims that he has taken his foot off the gas since triumphing at Royal St George's during July. "I feel like I've got to prove myself all over again," said Clarke. "I don't know what's wrong with me. You'd think my Open victory had come out of the blue and I needed to back it up, rather than being something achieved by someone who has won 20-odd times round the world and figured in Ryder Cup successes."

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