‘Welcome to Portrush – Major Golf Capital of the World’ reads a satirical sign as you enter the small coastal town on Northern Ireland’s north coast. It is of course, the home to the iconic Royal Portrush, which hosted The Open Championship in 2019 and looks set to do so again in 2025.
But that alone is not enough to make it the so-called ‘Major Golf Capital of the World’ we hear you say. Well, it actually gained its name thanks to several natives going on to win major titles. The first of which was Fred Daly, who won The Open at Royal Liverpool back in 1947.
However, more recently, the small country was propelled back onto the map by three more professionals. In fact, in the early 2010s, the trio took the golfing world by storm and together they won six majors between 2010 and 2014. As a result, the golf odds were often in their favour when big competitions rolled around. So, read on as we take a look at the three golfers that helped Northern Ireland’s stock rise.
Graeme McDowell
In 2010, Portrush native Graeme McDowell became the first Northern Irishman to win a major since Daly’s victory over 60 years prior. McDowell, who peaked at fourth in the world rankings, beat France’s Grégory Havret to win the US Open at the prestigious Pebble Beach. It was a tense final couple of holes for McDowell. A bogie at the 17th gifted Havret a route back into the game. However, his birdie putt rolled agonisingly wide of the hole. McDowell needed just a par on the 18th and he duly delivered sparking celebration both in California and back home. Sadly, for McDowell, that was his only major triumph. Although, he was second in the competition two years later at San Francisco’s Olympic Club.
Darren Clarke
Darren Clarke’s very emotional victory at The Open in 2011 was a little more comfortable than McDowell’s triumph stateside. Clarke, who calls Portrush home despite being from over 50 miles away, won the 140th edition of the European major at Royal St. George’s, beating current World No. 1 Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson by three strokes. The victory certainly wasn’t on the cards for the ageing professional and his chances were rated at about 200/1 by the bookies before The Open teed off. But, in his 20th Open outing, he finally prevailed. When the tournament was hosted in Portrush in 2019, Clarke had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot.
Rory McIlroy
Clarke’s victory in the 2011 Open was actually Northern Ireland’s second major victory of the year as just one month prior, Rory McIlroy reigned victorious in the US Open at the Congressional Country Club, where he beat Jason Day by an impressive eight shots aged just 22. What made the victory all the sweeter was the fact that he was able to bounce back from his well-documented implosion at the Masters just two months before. McIlroy, from Holywood on the outskirts of Belfast, followed that victory up by winning the PGA Championship in 2012 before dual success in the PGA and The Open in 2014. The former World No.1 needs just the Masters to land a career Grand Slam. However, he will need to rediscover the form from his early days if wants to etch his name into the history books.
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