Cheers all around as fan favorite Clarke wins British Open

SANDWICH, England — They might not declare last call at the pubs in Northern Ireland for a full year after yesterday’s wildly popular British Open victory by Darren Clarke at Royal St. George’s.

Surely, the treasured Claret Jug that comes with the Open Championship victory will be stained with Guinness once he brings it back to his home club in Portrush, about an hour north of Belfast.

At age 42, Clarke, once one of the top players in the world only to tumble way down the world rankings the last several years, finally realized the potential he’d teased everyone with, breaking through with his first major championship on his 20th try at the British Open.

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DARREN’S DAY: Darren Clarke raises his arms in victory (left) — and a pint in celebration — after winning the British Open yesterday.

“It’s been a dream since I’ve been a kid to win the Open, like any kid’s dream is, and I’m able to do it, which just feels incredible,” Clarke said.

Clarke, who began the day with a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson, staved off a furious front-nine rally by Phil Mickelson, who electrified the grandstands by going 6-under through his first 10 holes and tying for the lead. Johnson and Mickelson, who bogeyed four of six holes starting at No. 11, finished tied for second at 2-under par.

It’s been a long road for Clarke, who lost his wife, Heather, to cancer five years ago.

“In terms of what’s going through my heart, there’s obviously somebody who is watching down from up above there, and I know she’d be very proud of me,” Clarke said. “She’d probably be saying, ‘I told you so.’

“It’s been a long journey to get here. I’m 42 and I’m not getting any younger. But you know, I’ve got here in the end.”

Before tapping in his final putt on the 72nd hole, Clarke had a brief moment to himself while the thousands of fans rained cheers down on him.

“I was thinking about the past,” he said. “I think I said something like, ‘You’ve done it at last.’ “

Standing next to the 18th green as Clarke was finishing it out was his longtime manager, Chubby Chandler, with watery eyes.

“That’s what they all dream about— that walk up the 18th,” Chandler said. “God, he’s been 20 years trying. The hardest thing when you’re a golfer is when you’re labeled an underachiever, and he was labeled that. And now he’s not.”

Clarke is the third player from Northern Ireland to win a major championship in the last 13 months, following Graeme McDowell’s 2010 U.S. Open win and Rory McIlroy’s U.S. Open win last month. Northern Ireland had gone 63 years without a major and now it has three of the last six. In the time Northern Ireland has won three, the U.S. has been shut out, the Americans’ longest drought without a major since the Masters began in 1934.

Clarke made sure the drought continued when he delivered the shot of the tournament on the seventh hole, draining a long eagle putt.

Playing two groups ahead, Mickelson had tied him for the lead at 5-under with an eagle of his own on No. 7. And, as Mickelson was leaving a birdie putt just short of the cup on No. 8, Clarke surged to 7-under and never looked back.

A Mickelson birdie on No. 10 got him to 6-under and one shot behind Clarke. But Mickelson lipped out a 3-foot tap-in for par on No. 11 and never made another putt of significance the rest of the way.

Clarke’s closest pursuer at that point was Johnson, who was two shots back as the two played No. 14. But Johnson flailed a 2-iron out of bounds and took double bogey.

At that point, Clarke had a four-shot lead and the rest of the round was a coronation for him.

Clarke said he was buoyed by text messages on Saturday night from Tiger Woods, “who gave me some tips,” and McIlroy, who spurred him on the way Clarke did for him before he won the U.S. Open.

While Clarke was conducting his winning interview in the press center, a tournament official politely interrupted the proceedings and delivered a fresh pint of Guinness to Clarke.

“Excuse me for a little and I’ll have a little sip,” Clarke said.

mcannizzaro@nypost.com