Clarke secures emotional BMW victory
IN: News | Asian | BMW Asian Open (2008) | Round Four | by Bruce Young | 27 Apr 2008
Darren Clarke has won his first event since the 2005 Mitsui Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters and the first since the passing of his wife Heather in what was an emotionally charged final round of golf at the BMW Asian Open at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club in Shanghai, China.
Clarke holed a 40 foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to edge out Dutchman, Robert-Jan Derksen after threatening to blow a great opportunity to return to the winner’s circle and win his 10th European Tour event.
It was ironic that Clarke should hole a lengthy putt to win as it had been a wayward putter – perhaps accentuated by the emotion of the occasion – that has threatened to derail him in the previous 30 minutes. A missed putt from 6 feet at the 14th was followed soon after by a terrible effort at the 16th when he missed from three feet for par and then another missed from ten feet for par at the 17th.
That he was able to regather his composure and hole such a lengthy putt at the last was a reminder of the class player he is and always was. The putt was never going to be short.
“I was determined to give it a go as I didn’t want to leave it three or four feet short,” said Clarke after his round as he held the emotions in check.
“I have a lot of people to thank for this and they know who they are. They have supported me and encouraged me all the way through this and for that I am really thankful.”
The two most in Clarke’s mind however are no doubt his sons Tyrone and Conner, who have endured this tough period along with their father and who would no doubt have been willing their Dad on over the closing stages.
Derksen had hardly put a foot wrong all day until he strangely chipped into the water at the 14th and all of a sudden Clarke had a three shot lead and the tournament appeared in safe hands. But this was a very special occasion and it soon became apparent that it was an occasion that might get the better of Clarke. He faltered badly with a putting stroke that appeared under the most extreme pressure until he threw caution to the wind at the last and was rewarded with a birdie and the victory.
Derksen might well have been thinking that a par by him at the last might well have been good enough, especially given the length of putt that Clarke faced, and there was little doubt that had the putt missed then Clarke would have been faced with at least a six or seven footer on the way back. It did not and the tournament as over.
25-year-old English European Tour rookie, Robert Dinwiddie tied for third after steadying a rocky ship late on day four, his 5 under par total sharing third with Italian, Francesco Molinari, and Taiwan’s Weng Tan Lin who also holed a lengthy birdie putt at the last.
The best of the Australasians was Scott Hend who finished in a share of 9th, Scott Strange and Greg Norman were 14th, Peter O’Malley 23rd, Mark Brown, Michael Campbell, Marcus Fraser and David Gleeson 35th, Marcus Both 42nd, Adam Blyth 55th, Scott Barr 57th and Richard Lee 62nd.
Norman was particularly impressive given his lack of recent tournament play, finishing inside the top 20 for the second time in the two events he has played on the European Tour this season.
The European Tour now leaves Asia for the final time in season 2008, the next tournament is the Spanish Open next week.
