Harrington, Clarke get rub of the green in matchplay opener

YOU can never tell in matchplay, but Ireland’s two representatives, Pádraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, appear to be favoured by the draw for tomorrow’s first round of the Accenture World Matchplay Championship at La Costa, Carlsbad, California.

Harrington plays the Japanese Toshimitsu Izawa, whose experience of the head-to-head stuff is severely limited, while Clarke, the champion in 2000 and a quarter-finalist last year, should have a decided edge over the 49-year-old Argentinian Eduardo Romero.

However, confidence won’t be high after disappointing performances at the weekend. Harrington finished a lowly 39th in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open while Clarke shot rounds of 82 and 68 to miss the cut in the Nissan Open in Los Angeles.