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Clarke striving to repeat Open win

Darren Clarke has struggled for form since winning the Open © Getty Images

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Darren Clarke has insisted his struggles since tasting Open Championship glory have been on account of him craving success as opposed to taking his eye off the ball.

Clarke fulfilled a lifelong ambition when playing supremely well for four days in demanding conditions at Royal St George's to win his first major.

Since winning in Kent, Clarke has served up a string of poor performances and many have felt he has indulged himself a little too much off the course. The Ulsterman claims nothing could be further from the truth, as he insists he has been trying hard to replicate his Open win.

"The process of resetting my goals is ongoing," Clarke told the Daily Telegraph. "Since I won at Royal St George's I have struggled because I have wanted success too much. I have chased it, rather than relaxed. I will continue to spend eight or nine hours at Portrush, hitting balls on my own or with a friend.

"I know how fickle this game can be. There might be a caricature of me as a man who enjoys the good times, but that is not the case permanently. I am not in the bar every day. I take my job very seriously.

"I seem to have struggled with my disappointments since the Open. I think, 'Why can't I do it again?' I am even more obsessed. I have never accepted mediocrity in my career. When I play poorly, it really gets me down. And yet when I play well, I merely expect it. Because I practise, I feel that is what I should do. At the same time, playing poorly is what drives me to keep working hard, maybe too hard."

Clarke will mount a defence of his Open crown at Royal Lytham next year and he is determined to put up a bold show.

He said: "If I am to win another major, I would have to accept that the Open remains my best chance. I am 43, so my last serious chance of winning it again will come in the next year or so. That is why I will be doing everything in my power to prepare properly for Royal Lytham next year. Quite simply, I want to continue playing successful professional golf."

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