Personal Life
Clarke's grandfather Ben played for Portadown F.C., Sheffield United, Exeter City and Carlisle United and earned two amateur caps for the Ireland national football team (1882–1950) in 1934. His father Godfrey played for Glenavon F.C..
He met his wife Heather in a nightclub in Portrush, County Antrim, and they married in March 1996. The couple had two sons, Tyrone (born 1998) and Conor (born 2001), and the family lived at Sunningdale, Berkshire, UK. In 2005 and 2006 he missed several tournaments to care for his wife, who had been diagnosed with both primary breast cancer in December 2001, then, in 2004, with secondary breast cancer. Heather Clarke died on Sunday 13 August 2006 at 39 years of age, in the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.
Clarke's friend Paul McGinley immediately announced his own withdrawal from the PGA Championship starting in Medinah, Illinois. In a statement McGinley said, "Our two families are very much intertwined, obviously me and Darren, but Heather and (McGinley's wife) Ali were the best of friends and our kids are in the same class at school. So it is a tough time for us all".
Following Clarke's performance at the 2006 Ryder Cup, six weeks after his wife had died, he was the favourite to win the 2006 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, but was runner-up to Zara Phillips. He had previously stated he did not want to win with a sympathy vote after his wife's death.
Clarke and his sons moved back to Northern Ireland, making their home in Portrush. Clarke and former Miss Northern Ireland Alison Campbell married on 11 April 2012.
On 6 April 2011, Clarke was photographed by Kevin Abosch for The Face of Ireland project.
Clarke is a supporter of Liverpool FC.
Clarke was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to golf.
Read more about this topic: Darren Clarke
Famous quotes related to personal life:
“The dialectic between change and continuity is a painful but deeply instructive one, in personal life as in the life of a people. To ‘see the light’ too often has meant rejecting the treasures found in darkness.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)