The Open: Darren Clarke honoured to be hitting first tee shot at Portrush
By Keith Jackson at Royal Portrush
Last Updated: 15/07/19 4:09pm
Darren Clarke insisted he was happy to accept the honour of hitting the first tee shot of The 148th Open in front of his home fans at Royal Portrush.
Clarke, the 2011 Champion Golf of the Year, did not think twice about agreeing to the R&A's request to get the tournament under way on its return to the historic Dunluce Links for the first time since 1951.
The 50-year-old played a key role in the campaign to have Portrush restored to the Open rota, and he is looking forward to his 6:35am tee time as he takes centre stage in the opening group alongside reigning Amateur champion James Sugrue and American Charley Hoffman.
"The 3am gym session could be early," joked Clarke, who owns a house adjacent to the course. "Tiger does a 1am, I'm going to try to do a 3:00. We shall see.
"It's going to be amazing. To think, it didn't seem that long ago they announced The Open was coming here. It's all happened very quickly with all the work they've done to get the course ready. And then we're in Open Championship week.
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"Thursday morning is going to be exciting, and I just hope I manage to get one going straight down the fairway," added Clarke, who revealed that R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers asked him to hit the opening tee shot last month.
"Mr Slumbers asked me about three weeks ago if I would do them the honour of hitting the opening tee shot. And it's Royal Portrush, and when The R&A asked you, it's a definite yes. I said I'd love it. It's the first time we've been here since 1951, and he asked me to do it and I happily accepted.
"Sometimes it can be a good draw teeing off here at half six in the morning. We shall see. As soon as he asked me it was always going to be a yes. Will there be tears? No. I'll just be very proud that we have it back here in Northern Ireland.
"I'll just think The Open Championship is going to start, and I think the other guys would say the same sort of thing. It goes without saying, it's a huge thing to have it back here in Northern Ireland again.
"It's going to be an amazing tournament. If you see how many people were in here yesterday watching and again today and all the practice tickets are all sold out. The atmosphere is going to be sensational."
Clarke would understandably welcome a victory for compatriot Rory McIlroy at the end of the tournament, but he also tipped Adam Scott for a strong challenge before insisting that the prospects of a fourth Open win for Tiger Woods cannot be written off.
He said: "Obviously I'd take Rory, wouldn't I? Who else would I say? I've played quite a bit with Adam Scott the past couple days, and 'imperious' is the best word to describe him. He's been very, very impressive. Adam has a very good ball flight, and that's why he played well in Open championships before.
"As for Tiger, you don't know what he's going to do, after his Masters victory. Here in Portrush we don't have that many bunkers here, but the way that Tiger, when he won at St Andrews and Hoylake, when he kept it out of the bunkers on both of those, didn't he?
"He knows how to get around a links golf course. He likes to be the master tactician, which he has been on many occasions. And so, if Tiger Woods is playing, you can never write off Tiger Woods."
