darren Clarke swing speed | Golf Monthly

Darren used to be proper long. As a 16 or 17 year old, he reached a par-5 green at his (and my) old club with a drive and a sand iron, on a hole I had only reached once with 2 of anything.

And in a match while played on a newly opened par-4 of 450 yards on a cold heavy day, he holed out his second shot with a 2 iron, then turned to his opponent who was standing over his ball and said the immortal line 'You have this for a half'.

Around the same time, there was a summer eclectic played, where you played as often as you liked and your final score was your best score for every hole. Darren played his first round, had a gross 61, then improved it 4 or 5 shots with his second round and more or less won the event in 2 rounds when others were playing 2 or 3 times a week for the whole summer.