42-year old Darren Clarke won his first Open Championship in 20 attempts this past weekend.  The Northern Irishman took inspiration from the incredible play of Irish players in majors over the past few years (6 of the last 17 majors have been won by Irishmen) and pulled off an unlikely but heartwarming victory on Sunday.

Interestingly, Chubby Chandler manages Schwartzel, McIlroy, and Clarke, giving him the first 3 legs of the “Chubby Slam”.  Should we start placing bets on Lee Westwood at the PGA?

It’s that time of year again.  On Thursday, the oldest major, The Open Championship (aka The British Open) kicks off.

This year, the Open Championship returns to Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England for the 13th time since 1894.  The last time the Open was held here in 2003, it produced one of the most unlikely champions in its history, Ben Curtis.

Is Curtis one of my picks this week?  Read on to find out.

1. Rory McIlroy – In what world could Rory possibly not be a favorite to win this week?  After one of the most dominant US Open performances in years, he seems to be primed to perform well at Royal St George’s.  Yes, he did take the last few weeks off, but have you seen his backyard practice facility?  I don’t think there’s any doubt that he’s plenty prepared for this week.

2. Luke Donald – Last week marked the return of the Scottish Open to a links style course.  This made it an ideal last-minute tune up for the worlds best golfers, despite the fact that freak weather conditions shortened the event to 54 holes. And Donald showed that he was ready for the challenge that Links golf provides when he shot a final round 63 to win by 4-shots.  If Donald carries that performance over to the Open this week, he’s going to be hard to beat.

3. Matt Kuchar -Kuchar was one of several Americans that made the trip over to the UK early to get prepared for the Open.  I think it was clearly a smart move given Kuchar’s T10 finish.  As the American with the highest finish last week in Scotland, he is in my opinion, the American most likely to win the British this week.

4. Jason Day – Day is playing in only his 5th major championship.  But he’s finished 2nd in the last two and T10 in the PGA before that.  In fact his worst finish in a major is a T60 in last years Open Championship, his first major ever.  With another year of experience under his belt, look for Day to come through with a strong finish this week.

5. Nick Watney – Watney has already won twice this year.  He can flight the ball relatively low and has one heck of a short game.  Those are two keys to success at the British.  The only area of his game where he tends to struggle a bit is out of the bunkers.  If he’s able to keep the ball away from them, look for him to have a great week.

No, Ben Curtis isn’t one of picks.  He was a long shot when he won in 2003 and he’s a long shot now.  But links golf can be strange sometimes so it’s hard to count anybody out.  That said though, I’m willing to bet that the winner will come from one of the 5 players above.

Prior to Padraig Harrington winning the Open Championship in 2007, no Irish golfer had won a major in 60 years.  Since that victory, Irish golfers have now won 5 of the last 16 major championships.  That’s pretty amazing when you think about it.

CNN recently took a look at the reasons behind the success of Irish golf.  Video after the break:

No, that's not the Road Hole bunker at St. Andrews. It's Rory's backyard.

The BBC ran an hour long documentary on Rory McIlory last night entitled Major Breakthrough.  It’s available online here, but you have to be located in the UK to watch it.

However, I did find a really cool sneak peek clip of Rory showing off his amazing backyard practice facility.  Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video, but definitely hit up the link if you have a couple of minutes and prepare to be blown away.

BBC – Rory Sneak Peak

Rory made an appearance on Piers Morgan last night.  It was interesting interview.  Rory seems relaxed and ready to go play well at the Open Championship.

I’ll give him a pass on not reading a book during the past year though.  He has been a little bit busy.   In case you missed it, there’s a video clip below the break:

If Rory McIlroy is the next Tiger, could Patrick Cantlay be the next Phil Mickelson?  After all, no amateur has won on the PGA Tour since Mickelson in 1991.

Cantlay, who just finished up his freshman year at UCLA and was low amateur at last week’s US Open, appears poised to follow in Phil’s footsteps this weekend.  He fired off a course-record 60 at the TPC River Highlands en-route to taking a 1 shot lead at the Travelers Championship.

Cantlay seems to be taking everything in stride, stating that he “only hit a couple of bad drives.”  What exactly does a bad drive look like when you shoot a 60?  Left-center fairway instead of dead center?

Cantlay’s performance has even caught the attention of Rory McIlroy, who’s taking a few weeks off after winning his first major:

Normally the week after a major is pretty slow, but this is shaping up to be one of the most exciting tournaments of the year.

“The Americans have Tiger Woods.  We have young Rory.”

Full video after the jump:

Over 2 years ago, Tiger told Golf.com that he thought a then 19-year old Rory McIlroy had the tools to become the best player in the world:

“There’s no doubt,” Woods said. “But hopefully it’s not while I’m around,” he added, laughing.

“Certainly he has the talent. We can all see it. The way he hits the ball, the way he putts, the way he can chip, and get up-and-down. He has the composure and all the components to be the best player in the world. It’s just a matter of time and experience and then gaining that experience in big events. That just takes time and, I mean, geez, he’s only 19. Just give him some time and I’m sure he’ll be there.”

I’m not sure if Tiger thought that a mere 2 years later Rory would be turning the US Open into a clinic while he himself would be in the middle of the longest winless streak of his career and would have fallen outside of the top 10 in the world.  But there you have it.

Golf.com (via Dogs That Chase Cars)

[Image Flickr/ltbeyer]

snapped this pic of today’s paper identifying the winner of the US Open as John McIlroy.

I know that typos happen, but WTF Chicago Daily Herald?  How do you miss this one?