"There's been a little bit of chat about 'He shouldn't have had a drink, he shouldn't have done this, he shouldn't have done that'," he said.

"I don't know, people need to get real. Look what happened in Norway over the weekend.

"I won a golf tournament and people are concerned about whether or not I had one pint too many. I mean, get a life - it's sport.

"It's fantastic and I'm very fortunate to win, but you have 93 people that got murdered in Norway (the original death toll has since been revised down to 76).

"It was radio shows and phone-ins and that sort of stuff - debates. People are entitled to their opinion, but there are bigger and more important things than me winning a tournament."

After staying up all night immediately after his Sandwich triumph Clarke partied on when he returned to Portrush.

"I think I lit the candle a little bit too much and had the 'flu over the weekend," he added.

"I spent some time in bed and was a little but run down."

He did not sound back to 100% for today's curtain-raising pro-am, but after being "hammered" by three friends when he started playing again last Friday he has spoken to his two mind coaches Bob Rotella and Mike Finnegan.

"There was a lot about reassessing some goals and trying to work towards something else now.

"There's most definitely a temptation to say that what happens the rest of the year doesn't matter as I'm Open champion - I've been fortunate in that I've done nearly everything there is to do in the game.

"I think it's not going to make any difference as to my desire and determination to win tournaments, but I'm much more relaxed.

"One of Rotella's old saying is 'try less and get more', whereas I've done trying a lot and getting a little bit.

"Now I will try less and hopefully get a little bit more. It would be wonderful to get off to a good start again by playing well this week.

"To come here as Open champion and be part of those other three is very, very special."

The "other three" he refers to are, of course, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

Harrington kicked off the amazing run of success in Irish golf by winning back-to-back Opens and then the US PGA as well before McDowell won last year's US Open and McIlroy followed suit last month by an astonishing eight-stroke margin.

The 22-year-old was inevitably the talk of golf after that, but disappointed at The Open with "only" a 25th place finish.

He followed it by questioning his ability to handle bad weather, but commented today: "I said a few things I would probably like to take back.

"I was very frustrated coming off the course - I just really said what I felt at the time.

"I'm going to have to learn how to play in those conditions. You just have to deal with them as best you can."

Having been mentored by Clarke in his teenage years McIlroy was asked if he was now in a position to offer any words of wisdom to his fellow Ulsterman about being a Major champion.

"I would say to him enjoy it, but I think he has! He's been around a lot longer than I have, he knows how to handle himself."