Irishman avoids temptations of St. Patrick's Day, a sports feature written by Steve Campbell for the Houston Chronicle, Campbell wonders how Darren Clarke, an Irishman who never met a pub or a pint he didn't like, rang in a holiday that celebrates drinking without drinking. Clarke, who is currently 10 under, tied with Lucas Glover and Greg Owen, and four strokes behind Rod Pampling in the Bay Hill Invitational, answered with, "By remaining ridiculously sober, which goes against all my principles." Saturday morning, in his first round after St. Patrick's Day, Clarke went on a birdie binge and surged from a tie for 39th to a tie for second with a bogey-free, 9-under 63.All joking aside, Clarke's wife, Heather, is gravely ill with breast cancer that has spread to her bones and liver. They have two sons, and while Clarke is a competitive athlete, his first priorities and heart are with his wife, as she struggles with ongoing cancer treatments. Clarke keeps an online journal at his website, where he talks about golf, his wife's cancer, family and life.
On the last day of 2005, he wrote, "I'll sign off for this year by wishing every one of you a very prosperous, happy and successful 2006. These last 12 months have been difficult to say the least, but when I have been able to get out on the course there have been enough signs to convince me that there are good times ahead. It was no coincidence that my late flourish to the season coincided with an improvement in Heather's condition and hopefully that trend will continue next year."
Today he wrote, "Actually I didn't do anything outrageous or hole any ridiculously long shots. I just played well and everything clicked together. I haven't been able to play a lot of golf this year so it's good to score well on a very tough golf course. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it going. I'll certainly be trying to." We are hoping today is the start of many good times ahead.
8.13.2006 UPDATE: Darren Clarke has lost wife after long struggle with breast cancer.
7.21.2006 UPDATE: Darren Clarke: golf loses pro golfer due to cancer struggle.
