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Euro captain Clarke knows his way around a spotlight (The Associated Press)

Europe's Ryder Cup captain has won just one major, but like so many of his 21 other wins in some far-flung places, Clarke made sure it was memorable.

Five years ago, playing in his 20th British Open at age 42, the burly Northern Irishman held off Americans Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson down the stretch at Royal St. Georges, then topped it with one of the more gracious tributes the old golf ground ever hosted.

''In terms of what's going through my heart, there's obviously somebody who is watching from up above there, and I know she'd be very proud of me,'' Clarke said, honoring his first wife, Heather, who'd succumbed to cancer five years earlier.