bwin Sportsblog - Golf - Probably the most popular winner for 10 years

As I sit here typing this blog then I am doing so whilst watching the final round of the Open but as yet the leaders are still some way away from teeing off. But if Darren Clarke wins the Open today then he will probably be the most popular winner of a major for ten years. There have been some hugely popular winners and Jack Nicklaus in 1986 springs to mind as was Rory Mcilroy is the US Open a few weeks ago. There have been some huge near misses of course which would have been hugely popular like when Jean Van Der Velde and Thomas Bjorn came close to winning the Open a few years ago. If I had to pick my own winner then it would be Darren Clarke out of all of the people in contention closely followed by Bjorn and Jimenez. It would be great for golf but I have always been a true romantic. One of the most agonising moments came in 2009 when Tom Watson came within one putt of winning the Open at nearly 60 years of age. There is no doubt that golf brings with it some memorable and tense moments. It was sad not to see Tiger Woods at this year’s Open but there is strong talk that he will be back for the USPGA next month. I still think that this year’s Open could well go to a play off as the field is really condensed and with Clarke only having a one shot lead then it could become very tense indeed.