Butch backs Pádraig for glory

DARREN CLARKE out because of his wife’s ongoing battle against cancer, Pádraig Harrington under something of a cloud, also because of the serious illness of his father and coming off the back of missing the cut in the Booz Allen Classic at the weekend.

It hardly paints a pretty picture for the Irish going into the US Open starting at Pinehurst, North Carolina, on Thursday.

However, it says something about the strength of the game in this country at the moment that we have two other fine golfers, Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell, in the field for America's greatest tournament.