North of Ireland golf success continues

When it comes to golf, the major nations are usually the countries which provide the players that win events and this isn’t really a surprise. After all, countries that have larger population sizes are far more likely to produce successful golfers than the smaller nations. Basic mathematics means that is likely to be what people think but the recent history of golf would show that there was something out of the ordinary happening. The latest success of Darren Clarke at The Open means that three of the last 6 winners in golf’s major events have all hailed from the North of Ireland.
Long shot wins are always great
Even though another winner from the North may have been following the trend of recent times but the fact that Clarke was the latest winner may have come as a shock to the golfing community. After all, Clarke entered The Open ranked as 111th in the world although he rocketed to 30th after his win. The number one player in the world Luke Donald may have had hopes of being a winner on home soil but he missed the cut at Sandwich which shows that rankings don’t always matter when it comes to how a tournament pans out. The same can be said for the 2nd ranked player in the world, Lee Westwood, another Englishman who failed badly at an event he would have been hoping to perform well at.
Should The Open move across the water?
This has led to people saying that The Open should return to the North of Ireland for the second time in its history but this is something that will have to be discussed at great length. The commercial benefits of taking the event to the course in Royal Portrush, which hosted The Open back in 1951, are obvious but these benefits would therefore be lost to the rest of the United Kingdom. The argument that the attention that these recent triumphs has placed on British golfers is one viewpoint to say that Portrush deserves a chance of action again but there are far better golf courses which can host the event.
After all, hosting an event like The Open is as much about the facilities and services that can be offered to players and fans and this is something that Royal Portrush could struggle with when compared to the courses that have been favoured in recent years.