Clarke Ends Long Victory Drought
MALLORCA, SPAIN | Darren Clarke came from
four shots behind to capture his 13th European
Tour title at the Iberdrola Open in Mallorca on
Sunday.
The Northern Irishman used all his experience to grind out a final-round 69 and deny
Chris Wood his maiden victory.
The Ryder Cup vice captain had reduced
Wood’s overnight advantage to one within three
holes, but a double-bogey at the 11th after
finding water looked to have cost him a first win
since the 2008 KLM Open.
But Wood encountered numerous problems
on the back nine – three-putting the 12th and
13th and driving out of bounds at the 15th as
he came back in 40, despite coming within
millimeters of a hole-in-one at the last.
And Clarke finished in style, holing
a putt from the fringe at the 14th, nailing his approach to six feet at the
15th, saving par on the 16th with a
brilliant approach from a fairway
bunker and then holing another putt from off the green to
scramble for par at the next.
Clarke, who like last
week’s winner, Thomas Aiken, was playing in his first
event back from a holiday in the Bahamas,
said: “I had a really
good time, felt very
relaxed and worked
on my game.
“Sometimes you need to step back and
look at things from a different perspective
and that’s what I did in the Bahamas.
“It’s a bit of a monkey to get off my back
after three years not winning, so it’s good. At
the same time, I feel a lot for Chris Wood – he’s
a young guy, a great player.”
The 42-year-old Clarke finished with a
6-under-par total at the Pula GC course de-
signed by his final-round playing partner José
Maria Olazábal, with Wood tying for second
with compatriot David Lynn.
“Obviously disappointed and gutted,” said
Wood. “It was an extremely tough day on the
course and it was a bit of a grind all the way
round.
“When you start dropping shots and you hit
one out of bounds your head starts going all
over the place and it’s difficult to keep
going really.”
Clarke also paid tribute to Seve Ball-
esteros, whose funeral last Wednesday
overshadowed the build-up to the
event.
“We wouldn’t be here with-
out him, simple as that – the
European Tour would not be in
the position it is today with-
out Seve,” he said. “He was
the first man to do so many
things and make so many
breakthroughs that we have
all followed, so to win in his
homeland in the week that he
passed away is a real honour.”
Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth
produced a solid, level-par 70
to finish fourth, one ahead of
Olazábal, Shane Lowry, Paul Lawrie and
Graeme Storm.
