His biggest victory came when he won the 2011 Open Championship at Royal St George's in England, his first major win after more than 20 years and 54 attempts.

Clarke was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and in 1987 he played collegiate golf at Wake Forest University in the United States.

Clarke's real breakthrough year was in 1993 when he won his maiden European Tour event and played his way to 8th position on the Order of Merit.

After a relatively solid but unspectacular first half of the season, Clarke's form improved greatly during the August–September stretch, achieving four top-10 finishes in four consecutive tournaments.

Clarke had the lead after 54 holes and held off the challenge of Englishman Nick Faldo and Vijay Singh, who shot a final-round 64.

In 1995, Clarke had better success, with seven top-10s in 27 events, most notably at the Portuguese Open where he finished second after losing a sudden-death playoff to Adam Hunter on the first extra hole, despite having the joint 54-hole lead.

He missed the cut on his debut at The Players Championship, but his first visit to Augusta National Golf Club was much more successful, shooting 67–69 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 8th at the Masters Tournament.

In May 1998, Clarke won his third career event on the European Tour at the Benson & Hedges International Open by three strokes from Santiago Luna.

In 1999, Clarke captured his fifth European Tour win at the Compass Group English Open, finishing two strokes ahead of John Bickerton.

Clarke had a difficult route through the championship but defeated a host of big-name players: Paul Azinger, Mark O'Meara, Thomas Bjørn, Hal Sutton and David Duval before taking on Woods in the final.

[5] Clarke's fine year in 2000 continued when he finished tied for second place in the Volvo PGA Championship and the following week he won his seventh European Tour event at the Compass Group English Open.

A couple of weeks later, Clarke produced another fine performance at The Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes, finishing in a tie for 3rd place, four strokes behind the eventual winner David Duval.

He then played on the European Tour in the summer and won his ninth career title at the Compass Group English Open, becoming the first man to win the tournament three times.

He lost to Davis Love III in the semi-final on the 21st hole, but beat Stephen Leaney 2-up in the resulting 3rd place playoff match.

With Clarke playing much fewer tournaments on the European Tour he only finished 20th on the Order of Merit compared to his previous success in this category.

However, just six weeks after the death of his wife, Heather, he made a big contribution to Europe's Ryder Cup win in 2006 at the K Club in Ireland.

Clarke was one of Ian Woosnam's two wild card picks and he earned three points on the way to victory for Europe, including a 3 & 2 win in his singles match against Zach Johnson.

Clarke ended his winless streak in April 2008 when he won the BMW Asian Open in an emotional victory after a birdie on the 72nd hole to see off Robert-Jan Derksen by one stroke.

In 2011, Clarke won his first European Tour title since August 2008 with a three-stroke victory over Chris Wood and David Lynn in the Iberdrola Open.

[9] Clarke dedicated his victory to his two children and late wife Heather, who died of breast cancer in 2006: "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.

"[10][11] With Clarke's triumph in The Open at Royal St George's, it was the first time since 1910 that one country (other than the United States) had different golfers win consecutive majors.

[12] Rory McIlroy, also of Northern Ireland, captured the 2011 U.S. Open title one month earlier at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland.

[13] In November 2020, Clarke won the TimberTech Championship in Boca Raton, Florida for his first win on the PGA Tour Champions.

He was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup teams in 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004 and 2006, winning on four occasions and was also appointed a non-playing vice-captain by Colin Montgomerie in 2010 and by Paul McGinley in 2014.

[21] 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.