WATCH: Home hero Darren Clarke produces moment of magic at 'bigger and better' Open Championship
Darren Clarke believes The Open Championship is now “bigger and better” than when Royal Portrush hosted the competition six years ago and admits he’s loving being back in front of a home crowd in Northern Ireland.
Clarke, who won The 2011 Open at Royal St George's after finishing three shots ahead of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, got his 2025 campaign underway by posting a four-over par 75 on Thursday.
He produced one of the opening day highlights with a moment of magic on the 17th, chipping out of the long grass to pick up a second birdie – much to the delight of the local fans.
Now plying his trade on the Champions Tour, which stages most of its tournaments in America, Dungannon native Clarke doesn’t often have the opportunity to play on home soil, but he has embraced every moment of this week in Portrush.
The ninth hole on the iconic Dunluce links was recently named in Clarke’s honour while he also enjoyed a practice round on Tuesday alongside countrymen Rory McIlroy and Tom McKibbin, who shot one-over par in his opening round.
Clarke hit the opening tee shot at the 2019 Open Championship – the last time Northern Ireland hosted the tournament – but feels the sport has gone to another level since.
"It is bigger and better,” he said. “The whole build-out for the event is bigger and better.
"It's getting better every year, The Open Championship. It's great to see.
"We had bad weather last time and it looks like we're going to have iffy weather again. The fans are still going to come and watch.
“From a personal point of view, they were really good to me. They were shouting and roaring at me and encouraging me even when I was struggling a bit on the back nine there.
“It's great to see so many people out there. It's just a shame we got some of this inclement weather. That's links golf. That's what happens.
"It's been brilliant. I really enjoyed it. I've been down here practising a lot, hitting putts, doing everything.
"Coming in here shooting four-over, maybe I should have spent more time in the Harbour Bar than out here!
“It's great. I love getting home. It's one of those things. Unfortunately, I'm so busy now over in the States, it's tough for me to get home as much as I want.”
With torrential rain arriving on the north coast and providing a stern challenge to the 156-player field, many are already questioning what will be required to seal weekend survival.
The cut line sat at one-over par six years ago, but Clarke feels the outcome this time around will very much be weather-dependent.
"I'm not clever enough to get ahead of myself to come up with a score,” he added. “It just depends.
"We had almost perfect conditions there on the front nine this morning when the holes were playing downwind. It was pretty straightforward.
“On the back nine when the rain come in, the holes turned brutal. I hit a drive there as good as I could possibly hit it down 18 into the breeze, and I only hit it like 260, and that's as good as I could get it.
"That's the conditions. That's the way they go. You take that into account, a bit of rain, the ball shoots off, you never know what's going to happen on links.
“What's the leading score? four-under. Those are good scores.
"Again, as I said, the conditions were there this morning for the front nine that you could get something going. Four-under is really, really good scoring.”