Darren Clarke putts on the ninth green on the third day of the Open golf championship at Royal St George's. Photograph: Peter Muhly/AFP/Getty ImagesRain, rain everywhere, and plenty of it fell on Darren Clarke and Dustin Johnson. But if the big man from Dungannon and the imposing son of South Carolina got wet they did not get swept away on a Saturday at Sandwich that made a fool of the know-all at the clubhouse bar, Mr Conventional Wisdom.
American golf is in terminal decline. Top-class professional golf is a young man's world these days. Really? Then try this leaderboard for size after three days of the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George's. In first place we have Clarke, who followed two great rounds on Thursday and Friday with another beauty – great ball-striking, smart thinking and admirable mental fortitude in the face of conditions that proved the downfall of many, including the US Open champion Rory McIlroy, who slipped nine shots off the lead in the worst of the weather, and the English amateur Tom Lewis, who succumbed to a six-over-par 76.
Clarke signed for a one-under-par round of 69 and a 54-hole total of 205, five under par. Admittedly, he played in the best of the conditions, stepping on to the 1st tee when the torrential rain had stopped and the early starters were wringing out their socks for the 10th time. But even so, as the Americans like to say, he really did "golf his ball".
"My manager says I play my best golf when I'm fat," the Northern Irishman said earlier in this week. Presumably his manager bought him an extra large bag of chips on Sandwich's main street last night. More serious souls may point to his putting – he missed his share of short ones and three-putted twice today– and suggest that it may prove to be his downfall tomorrow.
They may have a point, but on the opposite side of the ledger there is the undeniable truth that no one has played better from tee-to-green than the Northern Irishman this week. weather is expected to be an improvement but sun hats will not be required. The breeze will be up and so will the demands on the players' ball-striking skills. If so, Clarke is in prime position to take back yet another major championship trophy to Northern Ireland.
What a night there would be in his home town of Portrush if that happened. Champagne would flow, and so would the tears. But as the man himself said after stepping off the 18th green – let's not get ahead of ourselves here.
Johnson is one shot back in second place, the just reward for a thoughtful, composed round of 68 that gave lie to his reputation as a talented but knuckle-headed thumper. Last year he shipped chances to win both the US Open and the PGA Championship – the first with some brainless shot selections over the opening few holes at Pebble Beach, the second with a rules infringement on the final hole.
Something has changed in the land of Johnson and that something is his caddie, Joe laCava, who worked for Fred Couples for years and is one of the best bagmen on the circuit. Pay rise for Joe? At the very least there will be a hefty bonus should his employer leave Royal St George's with the Claret Jug and the ?900,000 winner's cheque.
But Johnson has to win first, of course, and Clarke may have something to say about that. So may the 40-year-old Thomas Bjorn, who will begin the final round three shots behind on two under par, and the ageless Miguel Angel Jimenez, who is four shots back. Similarly, those representing the nation that supposedly cannot play golf any more, the United States of America, will also have a say. Lucas Glover, on one under par, has won a major championship before – the 2009 US Open – and so has Phil Mickelson, who said this week he intended to erase the memories of a mostly terrible Open Championship record – he has only one top-10 finish, third in 2003 – and start afresh.
At the time this sounded like yet another of Lefty's deliciously hare-brained ideas but as he crept up the leaderboard it did not seem quite so daft. Mickelson ended the third round in seventh place on level par, tied with his young countryman Anthony Kim.
The American presence was bolstered, and perhaps best represented, by the 22-year-old California-born Rickie Fowler, who was paired alongside McIlroy for the third successive day and, irony of ironies, gave his Northern Irish pal a lesson in how to play seaside golf.
Fowler also gave the perfect explanation of why this form of golf, especially in trying conditions such as these, is the purest form. "I love links golf. I love the variety and the options you get on a golf course like this. There are so many different ways you can play golf,'' he said. "And I feel I can hit different shots. I like to hit different shots. That's just the way I grew up learning how to play the game."
Well said, young sir, and well played. Fowler may look like the long lost son of a Beach Boy but he has the soul of Old Tom Morris. He would be a wonderful Open champion, one who would represent everything that is good about the Royal and Ancient game. But then again, so would Darren Clarke.
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