A week may be a long time in politics but 20 hours can feel like a marathon for one of the game’s greatest golfers when his game goes from the sublime to the ridiculous in such a short space of time.

Darren Clarke will have to wait to make his 500th European Tour appearance after pulling out of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters through injury.

Ruaidhri McGee’s hopes of securing a European Tour Card suffered a blow after his third round of the final qualifying stage in Spain yesterday.