Darren talks Tiger

Darren Clarke knows the real Tiger Woods – or at least the Tiger that’s as real as anyone is going to see. The two are close friends, now with 15 major titles combined, because of their initial connection as students of Butch Harmon. It developed into more than that, though, and over the years a true friendship appears to have formed.
The Open champion says the appeal for the two was natural.
“Similar build, similar color, similar stature,” Clarke joked on Tuesday at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
All kidding aside, it’s kidding that may have brought the two together.
“He sort of got my sense of humor and I got his,” he said. “I give him a little stick and what have you. I don’t think anybody gives him that much stick.
The two even shared texts, with Woods offering some measure of counsel to Clarke on the eve of the final round at Royal St. George’s. Clarke credited that advice as helpful in the final round en route to his first major win at the age of 42. Neither went into specifics about the advice or the tenor of the conversation. Then again, it wasn’t necessary.
What the two men have shared, though, would seem to make Clarke an expert on the kind of man Woods is – flaws and all. And that man, Clarke says, is worth rooting for and cheering.
“Beneath it all, beneath all the stuff that’s happened, self-inflicted or otherwise, he’s essentially a really good kid — a man — beneath everything. Sometimes his media image has been portrayed in a very poor, poor way, some of that, again, from some of the stuff that he’s been through. But underneath it all, he has been a tremendous friend to me.
“And there’s a real good side to Tiger Woods that nobody ever fortunately gets a chance to see. That’s why.”
If Clarke can’t sell anyone on at least being mildly interested in Woods – even as the antihero – then the 14-time major winner has little chance of ever recouping those fans. Fine, says Clarke, but he will enjoy playing with Woods on Thursday at Firestone.
“I’m sure he will be trying to get himself back up to where he has been before, and personally I don’t doubt he’ll do that. But for us to have a chance to compete against him again can only be good for the game in general.”