Open double for Northern Ireland

Darren Clarke's victory on Sunday in the British Open means stunning back-to-back Major wins for Northern Ireland, following Rory McIlroy's triumph at the US Open last month. And with Ulsterman Graeme McDowell preceding McIroy as US Open champion last year it means that three of the last six Majors have been won by golfers from Northern Ireland all born in different decades. With a population of just 1.7 million, the prospects two years ago of that happening would have been astronomical. Asked in his victory press conference what was the secret to Northern Irish success, Clarke replied: "I was waiting for that one, and I honestly don't know. "We're blessed to have obviously two fantastic players in Rory and G-Mac, and I've just come along - the old guy coming along behind them. "You know, we've just been lucky. We have fantastic golf courses, we have fantastic facilities, but to have three major champions from a little small place in a short period of time, it's just incredible." Clarke at 42 is by a long stretch the oldest of the three Ulster Major winners with McIlroy just 22 and McDowell in-between at 31. Asked if he had ever felt jealous of the recent successes of his two compatriots while he had failed over the course of a 20-year career to win a Major, Clarke insists that this was never the case. What mattered was what it meant back home for the people of Northern Ireland where sectarian unrest has cast a black cloud over the country for the best part of the last 40 years. "I'm sure they're having parties all the time, party for G-Mac at Portrush and party for Rory a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sure I'll have another one this week. "They'd all just be very pleased. As I say, Northern Ireland is a very small place and it's all a very close knit community and everyone is very pleased for our sporting guys that do well, and I'm pleased to join them. What would be the icing on the cake, Clarke added, was for a future Open to be awarded to the links course at Portrush where he and McDowell live. The only time the tournament has been held outside of mainland Britain was in 1951 when Max Faulkner won at Portrush. Since then it has been rotated between classic links courses in England and Scotland. Currently there are nine of these that meet all the requirements laid down by the Royal & Ancient which runs The Open. "I would prefer to see it played at Royal Portrush every year. That's where I would like to see it," Clarke said.