DARREN CLARKE : OPEN CHAMPION !

The open Golf Championship at Royal St George's was a right old test of stamina, skill and determination. The weather was, to say the least, changeable, sometimes not too bad, sometimes pretty rough and sometimes downright horrible. To add to the players' misery, these conditions seemed to occur in very close proximity, sometimes no more than minutes apart.

Before the event, all eyes were on Rory McIlroy, the new 'Wonder-boy' of British golf. His recent success in the US overode all semblance of common sense as he was made the bookies' favourite to win this week's tournament; of course, this was nonsese. McIlroy is a fine golfer but he is still very young and placing great expectations on him was always likely to be misplaced. In the event, he showed that he does not play well in difficult weather; he never got to grips with the wind and rain and, in his after-match interview, even said that he really did not like playing in such conditions. Perversely, he also seemed to think that he could win the Open in the future without changing his approach, as long as the weather was good ! This was an astonishingly naive remark from the young man and one can only hope that, with age, will come a little more understanding of the game that he is so good at. Perhaps he should spend a little time talking to the 'Grand Old Man' of golf, Tom Watson, who, at the age of almost 62, beat the young Irishman by a shot; I guarantee that Tom never had any such silly thoughts.

With McIlroy's eclipse, the way was open for some other young gun to claim the prize and one or two did try. In the event, however, it was another 'Grand Old Man' (though not one as venerable as Tom) who played the tournament of his life. Darren Clarke played 4 rounds without going over par; he maintained an air of quiet control and confidence throughout, playing through rain, wind and shine, to triumph by 3 shots, that could have been 4 but for him being ultra-cautious over the last 2 holes. After 20 years of trying, this quiet Northern Irishman enjoyed enormous support from the crowds around the course and never once looked like faltering. In the final round, when Phil Mickelson joined him in the lead, he simply carried on; when Mickelson fell away and Dustin Johnson threatened, he ignored it. He played near faultless golf in difficult conditions and was, quite simply, the best player of the week.

Darren Clarke deservedly won the Open Championship, and in true style, but the presentation of the famous Claret Jug does not mention the tournament : he was simply pronounced 'Winner of the Gold Medal and Champion Golfer of the Year' - now there's something to be proud of !

FORMULA 1 : WHO'LL BE SECOND ?

It's difficult to know whether the British Grand Prix was a turning point or not and, if it was, whether it will make any difference.

Red Bull didn't win it, but they were still second and third and, a miracle notwithstanding, are heading for a repeat of last year's double triumph. The constructor's title is their's barring an act of God and Sebastian Vettel seems certain to retain the driver's championship. What did seem to change last weekend was the position of McClaren who are now looking at third place amongst the front runners, rather than being the only serious contenders to Red Bull.

Ferrari are always a team to be reckoned with but when one of their drivers is Fernando Alonso this is more so. Alonso's win last weekend may well have been a turning point in this year's title race, though it's probably too late to make any difference to the eventual outcome, and Alonso's team-mate, Massa, hasn't yet really troubled the scorers very much this year. It looks as though Alonso could be a real challenger in the coming races but Red Bull's, and Vettel's, lead is already so vast as to be almost unassailable.

With all of this, what of McClaren ? Their season seems to be a mess, with Hamilton struggling to reach the end of the race because of fuel issues and Button being forced to drop out after a botched pit-stop; it suggests that all is not well with the Woking-based team. A poor result at the German Grand Prix next weekend and the sporting press will be infested with suggestions that the team is in turmoil, that Hamilton and/or Button are headed for pastures new etc., etc.

For what it's worth, I see Alonso as the main man in Germany, followed by Vettel and Webber; Hamilton and Button will be lucky to make to the top 6, with Massa, Rosberg and Schumacher likely to be close competitors. It won't be long before McClaren give up on this year and starting looking to next.

WIMBLEDON SURPRISES.

Sadly, it's now a while since the Wimbledon competitors showed me to be a pretty poor predictor but, nonetheless, it's time I commented on the eventual outcomes.

The Ladies event went in an entirely unexpected direction with Maria Sharapova being comprehensively out-gunned by the eventual Champion, Petra Kvitova. I can't pretend to have heard of Kvitova before, though I suppose I must have as she made good progress at last year's event, but, at least, she'd made no impression. That cannot be said of her this year. Sharapova, the hot pre-match favourite never got a look-in as she was simply blown away by this 'new kid on the block'. Kvitova looks and plays like a real all-rounder, her physique is perfect and her game strong and complete; in contrast, Sharapova is a bean-pole who grunts a lot. The rest of the women's top seeds simply faded away, with the Williams sisters lack of play catching up with them, Caroline Wozniacki showing, yet again, that her ranking is laughabale, and Azarenka falling short. My tip, Sabine Lisicki, seemed to run out of steam towards the end but she will have moved a long way up the rankings by next year and will be a genuine contender then.

The men were, as expected, highly predictable until the very end. No one would have bet on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga coming back from 2 sets down against Roger Federer but the fact that he did tells me that Federer's time is over; he will never win another Grand Slam event. Our own 'Great White Hope', Andy Murray, yet again showed that he does not have what it takes at the highest level; after making his way to the semi-final with few alarms and even having the temerity to take the first set off of Nadal, his challenge simply faded away in the light of reality. Djokovic, of course, beat Tsonga in the other semi-final to set up a final with last year's Champion but by now most people were still expecting a Nadal victory.

In the event, the first set went with serve for the first 7 or 8 games until the Serb took charge; suddenly he was 2 sets up and no time seemed to have passed. In all honesty, Djokovic's play for that period was probably the best ever seen on any tennis court anywhere; he had Nadal, undoubtedly one of the best 2 or 3 players of all time, chasing the ball helplessly. Astonishingly, after such a tremendous display, the third set was a total reversal of the second and Djokovic found himself unable to present any challenge to an increasingly confident Nadal : 2 sets to 1 and the smart money was now all moving towards the Spaniard. The fourth set was a topsy-turvy affair with both players having their moments until Djokovic suddenly regained his balance and form to take both set and match and, with it, the Wimbledon crown. It was a good final though not one of the best; both players had brilliant spells but both also had times of seriously below-par performance.

In the end, Djokovic was a worthy winner and I certainly won't bet against him repeating the triumph next year; by then Federer will be out of contention, Murray will still be a semi-finalist, and Nadal may or may not be fit. The only other likely challenger will be Juan Martin Del Potro but 12 months can bring a lot of changes so let's not get too sure of ourselves just yet.