When Darren Clarke came out onto the European Tour in 1990, he looked like a top level player in the making and he played some tremendous golf during the two decades to follow. He came close in an Open Championship at Troon in 1997 but shanked a long iron tee shot onto the beach at the 2nd hole on Sunday and that was the beginning of the end of his chances.

Until this year that was as close as he ever came to winning a big championship and all the critics and commentators simply assumed his chance had passed.

Rather than playing last year's Ryder Cup, Clarke was Colin Montgomerie's assistant captain, a role seemingly preparing him for the main job in 2014.

Instead, and with one brilliant week of play at Royal St Georges, he will likely be representing Europe in the next instalment of the Cup.

Saturday in Kent had been a miserable day for golf, as wind and lashing rain sent scores high piling up way above the par. What it did not do was reduce the number of potential winners to a particularly small group and on Sunday morning there were more than a few with high hopes.

Clarke was ahead of huge-hitting American Dustin Johnson by a shot but his incredible iron play in the winds of the third round could have seen him a handful of shots ahead if only he had putted well.

The question was, could the man from the north of Ireland endure the pressure and make the putts he would surely need to hold off the rest?

Phil Mickelson came with an incredible rush on the opening nine, making an eagle at the downwind par-five 7th hole to draw level with Clarke, playing a couple of holes behind. The left hander was out in 30 and heading towards one of the great rounds.

Clarke got through the difficult beginning holes well and then matched Mickelson's three at the par five to go ahead again by two shots. Mickelson then missed a tiny putt at the 11th for a par, followed that with a bogey at the 13th and in the end his threat just petered out.

The left-hander's 68 was a good score on the day but ultimately a disappointing one.

Johnson re-emerged early on the back nine as the biggest threat to the crowd favourite, Clarke, and it looked like they would battle right until the end of the championship.

Johnson unquestionably is a hugely talented player who hits the ball as far as anyone ever has. He has an unusual position at the top of his backswing with his wrist bowed over and the clubface correspondingly in a closed position. The great Lee Trevino employed the same geometry of wrist and clubface but, unlike Johnson, Trevino never looked like he would hit a wayward shot - and he rarely did.

Johnson's swing, with his great power, does look like it can go very crooked and his critical test looked to be looming at the 14th hole.

The tee shot at the par five is brutally demanding with the white posts right on the edge of the fairway signifying the boundary between St Georges and the Princes Golf Club next door. Almost all shy away to the far left but the rough is thick over there and five is no certainty once the fairway is missed.

If ever Johnson was going to make a big mistake it was on the tee but he hammered a perfect drive right into the middle of the fairway. Clarke followed with a perfectly safe drive down the left and went safely forward from there with an iron, leaving himself with 100 or so meters into the flag. Johnson then took his long iron and drove it straight to the right and over the fence, out of bounds.

With one critical swing what was a tight race became a triumphal march to the clubhouse. That meant a two-shot buffer became a four-shot lead for Clarke.

The man from Ulster had passed all the tests, drilling perfect and imaginative irons through the wind with regularity and his putting was more than safe from close range. He had some luck on his side, most notably when his approach shots from difficult lies in the rough at the 9th and 15th holes both skipped deep pots well short of the green - but all winners need fortune at some point along the way.

Whilst two of the best Americans, Mickelson and Johnson, were equal second here was another Championship - in the eyes of many the biggest championship - won by a non-American.

Staggeringly, two men from Northern Ireland, one, McIlroy, a kid, another and one an elder statesman, have taken the American and British Opens. Added to Graeme McDowell's US Open win last year, it means a country with a population barely double Tasmania's has won more major championships in 14 months as Australia has since Greg Norman's win at St Georges in 1993.

Why is an interesting question. We have more players, better weather, better coaching and as many good courses.

Adam Scott and Richard Green played well but were never quite in the race but at least Clarke, at 42, showed that golfers have time on their side. It is too early to write off the chances of Scott coming through and Jason Day was terrific at Augusta and Congressional. Geoff Ogilvy was our last winner, in 2006 at the US Open, but a fourth place aside at Augusta this year he has played poor golf for him at the last five majors.

With the future of Tiger Woods unsure, this is a time of opportunity and Clarke brilliantly and bravely took his chance on one of the most difficult, and best, courses in the game.