This is the best story in sports that won't hit the mainstream press. ESPN has covered it, and if you watch the Ryder Cup you've seen it too, but I wanted to make mention of it here.
Darren Clarke, a pro golfer from Norther Ireland, is playing in the Ryder Cup this weekend. He's a very good player and is widely regarded as one of the most jolly and heart warming fellows on either coast. I've even heard him called Norther Ireland's 'Arnold Palmer' becuase of his skill, stature, and contributions to golf on the British Isles and around the world.
He's a natural pick for Europe's Ryder Cup team. He's one of the best players in the world. He's got crazy good game, and just six weeks ago, he lost his wife to breast cancer. And while I can't speak to their relationship from any personal experience I've had with them, by all accounts, they were best friends and she was the love of his life. So when Clarke approached the first tee with his buddy Lee Westwood, the crowd's volume was as strong as their support of their "Arnie."
How that kid held it together, I'll never know. I was welling up a bit just watching it.
A simple google search of pictures of Darren Clarke will show his many faces. Mostly you'll see him enjoying a cigar on the course or his big smile; a very jolly Ulsterman indeed. But as he finished up his morning match posting a victory over he and Westwood's American opponents, the emotion was too much and his eyes puffed a bit, as did everyone's watching.
He found a bit more comfort knowing he had done what he knew his wife would've wanting him doing...after all she was his biggest cheerleader...
...and probably still is...
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