One of my favorite Opens ever. Why?
- Darren Clarke was so deserving and his attitude towards the game is so respectful of others and what this game is all about! I will never forget seeing the smiles on the faces of Darren and Lucas Glover on Saturday. Those guys genuinely enjoyed playing golf together. The mutual respect, the sheer joy of what they were experiencing together and those smiles said so much about the wonderful game of golf. Then Darren followed it up by saying that he enjoyed playing with Lucas so much he would be most happy if he could play every game for the rest of his life with Lucas. That kind of fellowship accompanied with the intense competitevness they showed, says so much for the game that we talk about constantly on this site. We all love to see smiles and those of Darren throughout the weekend, he and Lucas on Saturday, Phil and Darren at the presentation ceremony and even Darren and Dustin today make it all so special.
This is what I am taking away from this Open more than anything. Darren played the game the way it should be played. It was amazing to see him take Glover out of his quiet shell in the battle of competition. Then to single him out and say what he did after the round was very cool.
What I also enjoyed was how his fellow peers stuck around to congratulate him. Obviously his relationship with Phil is very deep and goes beyond golf but for Davis Love to stick around was great to see.
Truly a great week for golf!