The 2011 Open Championship

Thursday 14th July to Sunday 17th July 2011

In 2011,  the club hosted the 140th Open Championship, the fourteenth time it has been held at Sandwich. The Open was won by  Irishman Darren Clarke by three strokes from Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickleson on a par 70 course lengthened by 105 yards to 7204.

Clarke, who  became only the second Northern Irishman after Fred Daley (1947) to win the Open, started the final round 1 shot ahead of Dustin Johnson but it was Mickleson who made the first charge taking 30 shots for the front 9 to get within 2 of Clarke who had a huge slice of luck when his second shot at the 9 th bounced between the two cavernous fairway bunkers.

Mickelson then faded badly dropping 4 shots in 6 holes leaving it to  Dustin Johnson to take up the challenge. Johnson got within 2 shots of Clarke but then unaccountably went out of bounds with his second to the 14 th leaving Darren Clarke 4 shots clear. Thoughts of Bjorn who squandered a 3 shot lead in 2003 didn’t seem to bother Darren as he smiled is way through the closing holes to seal a highly popular victory