British Open champ Clarke says his good friend Woods is 'good kid'

Darren Clarke was one of the more popular winners of the British Open because of his zest for living and the way he relates to the common man, not to mention how he coped so publicly with the death of his wife, Heather, from breast cancer just one month before the 2006 Ryder Cup.

It was suggested to him Tuesday that it was easy to root for Clarke, followed by this question: Why should someone root for Tiger Woods?

“Good question,” Clarke said, pausing briefly. “Because 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.”

They will be paired together for the first two rounds of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where Woods is a seven-time winner and Clarke won in 2004. Clarke said he doesn’t mind competing against a friend, at least until a title is on the line.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I’ve got the opportunity to play with Tiger in his first tournament back. I think it’s brilliant. Hopefully, I’m able to give him a little bit of stick and make him laugh a little bit the first couple of days.”

It’s that humor that made them such close friends.

They first played together at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in the 1996 British Open, Woods’ final major before turning pro. They hit it off immediately and have remained friends, even after Clarke took him down in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship at La Costa in 2000, when both worked under Butch Harmon.

Woods sent him a series of text messages after Clarke won the British Open last month, although neither would say the content. It likely included a few words that couldn’t be printed.

How could two players who seem so opposite be such good friends?

“He sort of got my sense of humor and I got his,” Clarke said. “I give him a little stick and what have you. I don’t think anybody gives him that much stick. He’s been a very, very good friend to me over a very long period of time. I’ve got no idea why, but we just get on very well.”