Highlights from the final round of The Open Championship – Part1
The Open Championship wrapped up on Sunday with Darren Clarke proving to be too good for the rest of the field and getting his hands on the Claret Jug. The third major of the season took place at the par-70 Royal St George’s Golf Club in Kent, England. Here
is a quick recap of the final round.
Darren Clarke remained even par on Sunday to take a three-stroke edge over Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. He clamped one birdie and one eagle against three bogeys to produce an aggregate of 275 strokes.
Clarke revealed that he received great support from the crowd and his fellow golfers, especially Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, before the start of the final round, which helped him calm his nerves until the very last hole.
The 42-year-old was speaking to the press after his win, “They were sensational for me all week. The support they have given me through the bad weather as well as the good weather. They were all out there roaring and shouting. It was just brilliant to have
that amount of support. It's been a while since I've felt that amount of support. The fans could not have been any better for me this week. They really were. They've been a pleasure. They've been very, very kind to me.”
Three strokes shy of the winner were Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Mickelson, who shed his rust off during the Shell Houston Open and stepped into The Open Championship as an underdog, overwhelmed the crowd with his powerful strokes. The American had
a blistering start and blew the first half of the scorecard by firing three birdies and one eagle. This shot him seven spots up on the leaderboard.
However, it wasn’t all smiles for Mickelson at the back nine. The 2010 Master winner picked one more birdie but dropped four shots on his way back to the clubhouse. Nevertheless, the veteran earned his place as a joint runner-up and banked on €474,782 worth
of prize money.
Meanwhile, luck deserted Johnson on the final day of the competition, it seemed. He teed off from the front, where he bogeyed two holes and birdied one. On his way to the back nine, the player dropped the second shot into a bunker on the par-5 17th hole,
which eventually compelled him to sign for a double bogey. A similar debacle was seen on the last hole, where the player failed to save the par and had to seal the day off with a score of two-over-par.
Johnson faced problems in driving distance, largely because of the wind factor. And although the American managed to finish as a runner-up, he would be slightly disappointed on his final day performance.
Article continued in Part 2…
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