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To see the baseball player see Darren Clarke (baseball)

Darren Clarke
Personal information
Full name	Darren Christopher Clarke
Born	14 August 1968 (1968-08-14) (age 41) Dungannon, County Tyrone
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15.4 st)
Nationality	Northern Ireland
Residence	Chobham, Surrey, England
Career
College	Wake Forest University
Turned professional	1990
Current tour(s)	European Tour
Professional wins	19
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	2
European Tour	12 (19th all time)
Japan Golf Tour	3
Challenge Tour	1
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters	T8: 1998
U.S. Open	T10: 1999
Open Championship	T2: 1997
PGA Championship	T9: 2000

Darren Christopher Clarke (born 14 August 1968) is a professional golfer from Northern Ireland who plays on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. He was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone. He played college golf at Wake Forest University in the United States.

Clarke was ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings for 43 weeks between 2000 and 2002.^[1] The most prestigious titles he has won are the 2000 WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship when he defeated Tiger Woods in the final, and the 2003 WGC-NEC Invitational. His highest finish on the European Tour money list is second, which he achieved in 1998, 2000 and 2003. He has represented Ireland in the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup and played for Europe on five consecutive Ryder Cup teams 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006.

Clarke is represented by International Sports Management.

Private life

Clarke met his wife Heather in a nightclub in Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The couple had two sons, Tyrone (born 1998) and Conor (born 2001), and the family lived at Sunningdale, Berkshire. In 2005 and 2006 he missed several tournaments to care for his wife, who was diagnosed with both primary and, later, secondary breast cancer. Heather Clarke died on Sunday 13 August 2006 at 39 years of age, in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London (the day before her husband's 38th birthday).

Clarke's friend, Paul McGinley immediately announced his own withdrawal from the PGA Championship starting in Medinah, Illinois on Thursday. In a statement McGinley said, "Our two families are very much intertwined, obviously me and Darren, but Heather and (McGinley's wife) Ali were the best of friends and our kids are in the same class at school. So it is a tough time for us all" ^[2] Clarke later made himself available for selection for the 2006 Ryder Cup. European captain Ian Woosnam chose him as one of his two wild cards and he contributed 3 points from 3 matches to Europe's victory.

Clarke is a keen cigar smoker, on and off the golf course, and has been reported to spend an estimated £25,000 per year on cigars. He has also been known for smoking a pipe, in particular during practice for the 2006 Dubai Desert Classic.

Darren was the favourite to win the 2006 Sports Personality Of The year award, but was runner-up to Zara Phillips. Darren had previously stated he didn't want to win based on a sympathy vote concerning his wife's death.

Amateur wins (3)

• 1989 South of Ireland Championship
• 1990 Spanish Amateur Open Championship, Irish Amateur Championship

Professional wins (19)

European Tour wins (12)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	10 Oct 1993	Alfred Dunhill Open	-14 (68-68-66-68=270)	2 strokes	Nick Faldo, Vijay Singh
2	6 Oct 1996	Linde German Masters	-24 (70-64-67-63=264)	1 stroke	Mark Davis
3	17 May 1998	Benson & Hedges International Open	-15 (70-69-67-67=273)	3 strokes	Santiago Luna
4	1 Nov 1998	Volvo Masters	-17 (67-73-68-63=271)	2 strokes	Andrew Coltart
5	6 Jun 1999	Compass Group English Open	-20 (68-65-67-68=268)	2 strokes	John Bickerton
6	27 Feb 2000	Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship	4 & 3		Tiger Woods
7	4 Jun 2000	Compass Group English Open	-13 (70-72-68-65=275)	1 stroke	Michael Campbell, Mark James
8	8 Jul 2001	Smurfit European Open	-15 (68-68-71-66=273)	3 strokes	Thomas Bjørn, Pádraig Harrington, Ian Woosnam
9	9 Jun 2002	Compass Group English Open	-17 (65-70-68-68=271)	3 strokes	Søren Hansen
10	24 Aug 2003	NEC Invitational	-12 (65-70-66-67=268)	4 strokes	Jonathan Kaye
11	27 Apr 2008	BMW Asian Open	-8 (71-69-67-73=280)	1 stroke	Robert-Jan Derksen
12	24 Aug 2008	KLM Open	-16 (68-64-66-66=264)	4 strokes	Paul McGinley

PGA Tour wins (2)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	27 Feb 2000	Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship	4 & 3		Tiger Woods
2	24 Aug 2003	NEC Invitational	-12 (65-70-66-67=268)	4 strokes	Jonathan Kaye

Japan Golf Tour wins (3)

• 2001 (1) The Crowns
• 2004 (1) Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters
• 2005 (1) Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters

Challenge Tour wins (1)

• 2003 Benmore Developments Northern Ireland Masters

Other wins (3)

• 1992 Ulster Professional Championship
• 1994 Irish PGA Championship
• 2001 Dimension Data Pro-Am (Sunshine Tour)

Results in major championships

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary of major championship performances

• Starts - 50
• Wins - 0
• 2nd place finishes - 1
• Top 3 finishes - 2
• Top 5 finishes - 2
• Top 10 finishes - 6
• Longest streak of Top 10s in majors - 2

Results in World Golf Championship events

¹Cancelled due to terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001
DNP = Did not play
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
WD = withdrew
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009.

Professional team appearances

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners)
  • Record: 20 matches, 11.5 points (58% Point Percentage)
  • All Formats (W-L-H): 10-7-3 = 11.5pts
    • Singles: 1-2-2 = 2pts
    • Foursomes: 3-3-0 = 3pts
    • Fourballs: 6-2-1 = 6.5pts
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Ireland): 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
• World Cup (representing Ireland): 1994, 1995, 1996
• Seve Trophy (representing Great Britain & Ireland): 2000, 2002 (winners)
• Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2007 (winners)

Awards/Honours

• 1993 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
• 1997 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
• 1998 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
• 2000 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
• 2003 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award
• 2004 Texaco Ireland Sportstar Golf Award (shared with Pádraig Harrington & Paul McGinley)

References

See also

• Golfers with most European Tour wins
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

External links

• Official site
• Profile on the official site of the European Tour
• Profile on the official site of the PGA Tour
• Results in ranking events for the last two years from the Official World Golf Ranking site

Darren Clarke in the Ryder Cup European Ryder Cup team – 1997 Thomas Bjørn · Darren Clarke · Nick Faldo · Ignacio Garrido · Per-Ulrik Johansson · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Costantino Rocca · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam · Severiano Ballesteros (non-playing captain) Miguel Ángel Martín qualified for the team, but was forced to withdraw though injury, with his place being taken by José María Olazábal. European Ryder Cup team – 1999 Darren Clarke · Andrew Coltart · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Paul Lawrie · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Jarmo Sandelin · Jean Van de Velde · Lee Westwood · Mark James (non-playing captain) European Ryder Cup team – 2002 Thomas Bjørn · Darren Clarke · Niclas Fasth · Pierre Fulke · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · Bernhard Langer · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · Jesper Parnevik · Phillip Price · Lee Westwood · Sam Torrance (non-playing captain) European Ryder Cup team – 2004 Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Thomas Levet · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · Ian Poulter · Lee Westwood · Bernhard Langer (non-playing captain) European Ryder Cup team – 2006 Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Robert Karlsson · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Henrik Stenson · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam (non-playing captain)