Darren Clarke booked his place in the record books at the Marriott Forest of Arden when he became the first player in the 23 year history of the Compass Group English Open to win the tournament three times.
The 33 year old Ulsterman, winner in 1999 and 2000, started the final day tied for the lead with Raphaël Jacquelin but quickly eased away from the Frenchman and the rest of the field with a controlled performance in the testing, sodden conditions to cruise to a three shot victory, his ninth European Tour International Schedule success.
Clarke closed with a 68 for a 17 under par total of 271, the runners up spot going to Denmark’s Søren Hansen, whose 70 gave him 274 while Raphaël Jacquelin and Phillip Price shared third place on 12 under par 276. Clarke pocketed 208,797 euro (£133,330) for the win, moving him to 11th on the Volvo Order of Merit.
“This is certainly very satisfying,” said Clarke. “Probably this one more than the other victories because I have been playing well recently without having been able to put a score on the board. But it feels very good to go out and play the way I played today and win.
“I led from start to finish and that says an awful lot about my game. I feel very comfortable at the moment. I’m swinging it well and hitting it where I want to most of the time.”
After opening with five straight pars, Clarke made his intentions clear with successive birdies at the sixth and seventh. It gave him the advantage, but the telling thrust which gave him the title came at the par five 12th.
While most of the challengers struggled to make par at the 547 yard hole, the powerful Irishman reduced it to a drive and a five iron before rolling in an 18 foot putt for eagle three. It moved him five shots clear of the field and when he covered the final six holes in one under par, there was only one destination for the winner’s cheque.
Runner-up Hansen was desperate to emulate the achievement of his good friend, namesake and fellow countryman Anders who won the Volvo PGA Championship a fortnight ago and although he came up just short, the 28 year old from Copenhagen was rightly proud of his performance which moved him to 22nd on the Volvo Order of Merit.
After bogeying three holes in row from the eighth, the Dane regained his composure with five pars in a row before finishing in style, finishing with three birdies
“It was tough around the turn with wind howling and the and rain coming in sideways so it was easy to make mistakes but Darren didn’t, so all credit to him,” he said. “I felt great today and overall I’m very pleased with the way I played and the way I handled myself.”
Frenchman Jacquelin shared pole position with Clarke going into the final round but could not make a forward move, three birdies in five holes from the 17th helping him to a closing 73 and erasing somewhat the bogeys at the fifth, ninth, 11th and 12th.
“It is coming better for me, slowly but surely,” said the Frenchman, whose best finish on The European Tour remains his second place finish in last year’s Compass Group English Open. “I shot one over which could have been worse and it could have been better, but at least I am on the podium so I am happy with that.”
Welshman Price, third in last week’s Victor Chandler British Masters, produced another impressive week’s performance, closing with a 70, which cannot have failed to impress his playing partner and his Ryder Cup captain in three months time, Sam Torrance.
“It was good playing with Sam because I played with him at the Volvo PGA Championship and made a real hash of the end to finish 19th. That irritated me but today I finished well and it was nice to play well under pressure in front of him.”
