Clarke wins KLM Open

Aug 24, 2008 - 4:49 PM By Mark Garrod PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ZANDVOORT, Netherlands (Ticker) -- Darren Clarke lifted the trophy which will surely bring with it an invitation from Nick Faldo to be part of his Ryder Cup team.

A week after his 40th birthday, Clarke captured his second victory of the season Sunday at the KLM Open - and he did it by a commanding four-stroke margin.

Paul McGinley finished runner-up after a storming 6-under-par 64, but conceded that the day belonged to Clarke.

Clarke carded a 4-under 66 on Sunday for an overall score of 16-under 264. The superb total came too late for him to force his way into an automatic Ryder Cup spot, but Faldo hands out two wild cards next Sunday - and Clarke and Paul Casey are now big favorites for them.

After a hug and a high-five with his two sons Tyrone and Conor - it is the first time they have been present for one of his wins - Clarke reflected on his week's work.

"It's nice to win knowing that I had to play well and then actually doing it," Clarke said. "I had two weeks to try to impress Nick. The first is out of the way, and I seem to have done that. I don't know if I have done enough, but I'm in better shape and hopefully (Faldo) will take notice."

Clarke began the Sunday's final round with a three-shot lead. But there was a shock in store for him because after just three holes, playing partner Henrik Stenson had turned that deficit into a one-stroke advantage.

Stenson started with a hat trick of birdies while Clarke went over the green on the par-5 second and ran up a bogey.

But Clarke birdied three of the next four, and with Stenson making a mess of the seventh and ninth - bogey and double bogey - he started the back nine four clear and birdied the next three holes.

McGinley, who resigned as an assistant to Faldo to try to play himself into the Ryder Cup, took second when Stenson bogeyed the last.

"It was a good effort, but all credit to Darren," McGinley said. "There are only two picks, so it's a tight situation."