British Open Final Thoughts: Darren Clarke Wins; Mickelson charges then fades.

Whatever is in the water in Northern Ireland, I want to know, because that now gives them 3 of the last 5 major winners. Graeme Mcdowell won the 2010 U.S Open, Rory Mcilory won the 2011 U.S Open and now Darren Clarke has won the 2011 British Open.

Clarke is a very deserving champion. He’s the every man out there. He is a 42 year old veteran that lost his wife to cancer a few years. He smokes. He drinks a little and seems to just have a lot of fun playing. Even when others made a run he just rolling along without making any major mistakes and that’s why he won.

Other thoughts:

• Phil Mickelson was Phil. He charged up the leaderboard with spectacular play on the front 9 to tie for the lead then lost it on the back 9 when his putter betrayed him. I don’t understand why people keep lumping Phil with Tiger Woods as a quickly fading star. He may not be right in the middle of his prime, but he still clearly is one of the 5 best players on the planet. It was still impressive finish to end up 2nd, for his 3rd top 5 finish in his last 7 majors.
• I expected Dustin Johnson to really challenge Clarke. He’s starting to remind you of a young Phil Mickelson. He just has ridiculous talent, but just makes mistakes at the worst time. That goes two ways either you break through like Phil did or go through Sergio Garcia like struggles.
• Speaking of Garcia he finished 9th, and seems to be gradually returning to his previous form. Reports of his demise may have come too quick.
• I wouldn’t worry about the American golf. 5 of the top 8 finishers were American and 3 of those Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and Anthony Kim are under the age of 30. The talent is there, they just need to finish the deal.
• Another result I wouldn’t worry about is Rory Mcilory finishing 26th. Expectations got a little out control after he won the U.S Open, but he’ll be in contention plenty more.
• 61 year old Tom Watson finished T22. Amazing… Really Amazing.
• American Women lost in the World Cup Finals to Japan. Americans so close today.

Here’s my last thought. The plan this week  is that a new AllSportsDiscussion.com will be unveiled, possibly as early as Monday.

Content will be the same, ACC heavy, with bit and pieces of anything else that stirs my sports interest. Good thing is that the domain will be the same, feeds will be the same, and @TalkinACCSports on twitter remains the same too.