CLARKE TEAMS UP WITH CRANE FOR CHAMPIONS TOUR WIN
Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke alongside Ben Crane after the pair won the American Family Insurance Championship on the PGA Champions Tour (Photo: PGA Champions Tour/Getty)
Darren Clarke rolled back the years and gave Northern Ireland golf another reason to celebrate as he partnered Ben Crane to victory in the American Family Insurance Championship on the PGA Champions Tour.
The Dungannon native finished one shot clear alongside Crane at TPC Wisconsin, holding off a late charge from Kenny Perry and George McNeill to take the title on 30 under par.
It was a hard-earned success rather than a Sunday stroll. Clarke and Crane had lit up the tournament with a 17-under scramble round on Saturday, but the final round tightened quickly as birdies proved harder to come by and the chasing pack closed in.
Their first birdie did not arrive until the seventh, yet Clarke’s composure under pressure came to the fore down the stretch. The pair found crucial gains on the back nine, including a key birdie at the 16th, before Clarke calmly finished the job on the final green.
“It was a hard day for us both and we both stepped up and made some clutch putts and clutch shots when we really had to down the stretch,” Clarke said afterwards. “We said at the start of the week, our goal was to get ourselves in the mix on the back nine on Sunday and that’s what we did.”
It means Clarke (55), successfully defended the title he captured last year with Thomas Bjørn. With Bjørn unavailable this time, Crane stepped in to form a partnership that combined well.
Crane, recently turned 50 and still finding his feet among the senior ranks, could not hide his admiration for the 2011 Open champion and former Ryder Cup talisman.
“He stepped up there; it was unbelievable,” Crane said. “It was so much fun. You can see why this guy’s won Ryder Cup after Ryder Cup. It’s just elite golf, elite mentally.”
The American also described the week as a career highlight. “This week was a thrill,” Crane said. “I’m a rookie on the Champions Tour. When Darren asked if I would play, I said, ‘Wow, what a thrill.’”
“When you’re playing as a team, you’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for your partner,” added Clarke. “There’s a different type of pressure there, there’s a different type of enjoyment there.”