“Northern Ireland – golfing capital of the world”

It’s a good job I’m not a gambling man. Another major has been and gone and yet again every prediction I made proved to be utterly and spectacularly wrong. On Wednesday evening it was the likes of Luke Donald and Lee Westwood who I had marked out for success. Surely, I reasoned, it was time for another Englishman to take home the Claret Jug? Clearly my support adds little to the prospects of anyone hoping to progress into the business end of tournaments.

In a last ditch attempt to salvage some shred of dignity as a golf commentator please permit me to make just one more observation, one that may just bear some semblance to reasoned thought. For those who want to give themselves the best chance of winning a major: move to Northern Ireland.

Darren Clarke’s emotional Open victory at Royal St George’s Golf Club means he now joins Graeme McDowell and protégé Rory McIlroy as a major champion. Rather impressive given that these achievements have all occurred within the space of 13 months. Golfers love their statistics, so savour this one: 50% of the last 6 majors have been won by players hailing from the six counties of Northern Ireland.

To put that into context, in the history of major championship golf prior to this, Fred Daly’s victory in the 1947 Open had been the only success for a Northern Irishman. Many would agree that it has been worth the wait. Indeed, as Graeme McDowell wryly pointed out on Twitter: “Darren Clarke aiming to be the first Northern Irish golfer to win a major in almost four weeks!” Irish history in the making.

Remember though, the implications of Clarke’s maiden major triumph at Sandwich extend further than to history alone. The most light-hearted consequence being the tantalising prospect of this year’s Sports Personality Award. When Rory McIlroy won the US Open last month it seemed – given the collapse of David Haye’s little toe and barring an unlikely victory for England in the Rugby Union World Cup this autumn – that the 22-year-old Ulsterman would be a shoo-in. Now Britain has two major champions the vote may well be split between Messrs McIlroy and Clarke. On a related note, manager of the year has to be Andrew ‘Chubby’ Chandler: all three of this year’s majors have gone to players in his stable.

Other significant corollaries from this result include the continuing lack of Americans atop the leaderboard when it comes to the big contests. Although, having said that, there are promising signs; five of the top seven finishers were from the United States and on another day either Dustin Johnson or Phil Mickelson could have come out victorious.

Similarly, Darren Clarke, 42, is rightly optimistic about his career prospects despite his age and who is to say whether this great personal success will herald more major titles. Ben Hogan played some of his best golf after the age of forty, as did Vijay Singh and Mark O’Meara. The Northern Irishman, as such, is personally optimistic.

“I want more. I don’t want to just rest on one,” he said on Monday after staying up all night celebrating.

But the best thing to come out of the 140th Open? Golf can celebrate a victory of age and experience over youthful vigour. The likes of McIlroy, Day, Fowler and Schwartzel are undoubtedly benefitting the sport with their talent and fitness, drawing in a younger audience as a result. And yet, there is something to be said for a slightly overweight, cigarette smoking, Guinness drinking, gymaphobe fortysomething champion. Clarke is a people’s champion.