2011 British Open: Pre-Tournament Favorites Flop at Royal St. George's

After what was simply an incredible four rounds of golf at Royal St. George’s, in very difficult weather conditions, the evergreen Darren Clarke claimed the 2011 Open Golf Championship, with a five-under par four round score of 275, winning the tournament by three shots from the American pair of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson who finished tied for second on the final leaderboard. It was Clarke’s 20th appearance in the tournament, with the previous best performance from the 42-year-old coming back in 1997 when he tied for second place.

The win was Clarke’s first in a "Major" and amazingly three players from Northern Ireland have won the last five "Majors"—Graeme McDowell got the ball rolling when landing the US Open last June, a feat then emulated by Rory McIlroy last month and now Clarke has joined his compatriots, not bad for a country with a population similar to the city of Philadelphia.

Clarke led the field by one stroke from playing partner, Dustin Johnson, coming into the final round but he was caught briefly by Mickelson who enjoyed a birdie and eagle bonanza on the front nine getting round in just 30 strokes. Johnson meanwhile could not find any early momentum and never really troubled Clarke who consolidated his lead with a brilliant eagle on the seventh helping him regain the outright lead a position that he did not relinquish.

Mickelson’s momentum was derailed at the 10th with a silly bogey from which he never recovered. His back nine in the end was as bad as his front nine was good. Johnson briefly challenged with a couple of birdies on the back nine but his challenge fell apart after going out of bounds on the 14th, allowing Clarke to cruise to victory. Thomas Bjorn from Denmark held on gamely to finish fourth.

There were many who had tipped that the flag of St. George would have been raised over Royal St. George with an English victory. With the top two ranked players in the world, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, amongst the pre-tournament favorites and along with the likes of Ian Poulter, Paul Casey and Justin Rose, the English charge looked dangerous. However, Donald, Westwood and Poulter all missed the cut and Casey and Rose finished well down the field. The top Englishman was Simon Dyson who finished in a tie for ninth place at two-over par, while young English amateur Tom Lewis won the silver medal for the top amateur with a finish of nine-over par.

In fact, it wasn't a great tournament for any of leading pre-tournament fancies.  Rory McIlroy was the clear favorite and was well placed at the halfway stage but soon faded, looking like a victim of the torrid weather conditions, finishing in a tie for 25th place. In a post-tournament interview, McIlroy confirmed that he hated playing in bad weather and he would have to wait until the sun shines before he could realistically win the British Open—he may be waiting some time! However, it would be no surprise to see McIlroy resume where he left off at Congressional last month in the US PGA Championship at Atlanta Athletic Club which gets underway on Thursday, August 11.

Others who were expected to do well but disappointed were Graeme McDowell who missed the cut and world No. 3, Martin Kaymer who like McIlroy faded in the last two rounds to finish in a tie for 12th.

Defending champion, Louis Oosthuizen could only manage a tie for 54th place after winning 12 months ago at St. Andrew's by seven shots.