A host of star names have been making a beeline for Darren Clarke ahead of this week’s Open Championship at Royal Portrush.
Clarke, who will strike the opening tee shot on the storied Dunluce Links at 6.35am on Thursday morning, knows the famous course like the back of his hand.
The 50-year-old may have been born in Dungannon, Co Tyrone – that’s where his sporting journey began – but Portrush is his spiritual home.
If you crave an inside track on Purgatory – the par-four 17th – or perilous uphill par-3 at Calamity Corner, Clarke’s your man.
“I probably told them too much,” chuckled champion ahead of the oldest Major returning to Northern Ireland for the first time sine 1951.
“I want to beat them but they’re all good guys and I’ve been giving them whatever information they wanted and a little bit more.
“I’ve been trying to share. Where is the best place to come in from? Where is the best place to attack each hole?
“It will be interesting to see how some of the best players in the world play this golf course. You can try and take it on at your peril or you can try to play smart.”
Clarke, now operating on the senior tour, joked he’d have to bring his gym session forward to 3am after being asked by The R&A to hit the first tee shot.
“I was asked three weeks ago if I would do them the honour and it was a definite yes,” he said. “I just hope to get one going straight down the fairway.”
Will there be a flicker of emotion as he officially welcomes the Open back to Royal Portrush for the first time in 68 years?
The last time the Claret Jug was lofted on high here was 68 years ago when flamboyant Englishman Max Faulkner won his first and only Major.
“Will there be tears? No, I’ll just be very proud that we have it back here in Northern Ireland,” said Clarke.
“It’s a huge thing to have it back again.
“The course is in pristine condition, it’s Royal Portrush and it’s the first time we’ve been here since 1951. It’s going to be amazing.”
Clarke, who grew up during the Troubles, views this year’s return to Portrush as a sporting symbol of an improved political climate in the north.
The 500/1 shot once worked in a Dungannon hotel bar that was severely damaged by a car bomb during the height of the conflict in the mid-1980s.
“I was setting up the bar and we got a bomb scare,” he recalled. “The bomb scare was at 8.30pm, everybody out, bomb went off at 9pm and the place was flattened.
“That was life here. Bombs going off quite frequently and a lot of people unfortunately paid a heavy penalty for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Having a tournament such as this was beyond the realms of possibility, so to get to this point has been an incredible journey.”
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