Clarke: I offered to stand down
Darren Clarke has revealed he offered to stand down from the Ryder Cup Friday foursomes to ease the pressure on captain Ian Woosnam, who faced a tough decision on who to leave out.
Clarke and Lee Westwood beat Americans Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco in the opening-day fourballs and the Northern Irishman, who received tremendous support all weekend having lost his wife Heather to cancer recently, insists he was happy to stand down and cheer his team-mates on in the afternoon.
“My Friday morning tee shot was always going to be a tough one but I got it away – as Lee said, I hit it 300 yards or so down the middle – and I went on to make a birdie. After that I really got into the match,” Clarke told the Daily Telegraph.
“I offered to stand down in the afternoon because I knew Ian had such a difficult time on his hands in deciding which of his players he could leave out.
“I just wanted to make things easier for him and, as it turned out, I spent a great afternoon supporting the others.
“I have to say again how grateful I am to Ian Woosnam for having given me a place in this wonderful winning team. The support I had from my team-mates and their partners, along with the American players and their other halves, was phenomenal, starting with what happened on the first tee on Friday.”
