Clarke pours scorn on IMG event

YOU might have expected Darren Clarke to have enough on his plate with the $5.5 million American Express World Championship over the next four days followed immediately

But last night he took time out to blast the organisers of next month's Cisco World Match Play Championship at Wentworth. He scoffed at the grandiose title of an event that doesn't contain a single American of any note and went so far as to dub it "The IMG Invitational", a straight dig at the Mark McCormack-led company that owns the championship and has free rein to invite any players they like.

"I'm ranked 17th in the world, better than five of those they have invited, and they don't consider me good enough to play in their tournament," raged Clarke, a member of Chubby Chandler's International Sports Management stable.

"IMG do what they want in what is a European Tour sanctioned event. There should be guidelines and that's something I'll be taking up with the tour. How could you call it a world championship, it's the Mark McCormack championship, that's all it is. Ernie Els and Michael Campbell are the only two non-IMG players in the 11 they have picked so far. There will have to be criteria a limited number of invites and then set rules of qualification through the world rankings or the various orders of merit. It is typically pathetic of IMG. I'm not happy, but that's them through and through."

Having got that off his chest, Darren proceeded to the immediate business of chasing his second world championship to add to the famous match play triumph of 2000 when he defeated Tiger Woods in the 36-hole final.

"I was attached to Mount Juliet as tournament professional for two years and haven't been back since the Irish Open of 1994," he said.

"We have one of the best fields possible and the course is in fantastic condition so there's a fantastic feeling here this week.

"They have tightened up the fairways here but with the greens so good there will be a lot of opportunities for birdies and, when that's the case, it's the guy who holes the most putts that wins. I have had putting problems all year but I've been working hard on the green at home and it feels a lot better."

Clarke certainly needs that to be the case given the importance of the two events lying immediately ahead. And it was interesting to hear his response to the question as to whether he would prefer to win this week or be part of a successful Ryder Cup team.

"It would probably be the latter," he said. "The biggest high I've ever had was being part of the team that won the Ryder Cup at Valderrama in 1997.

"I love the team element. We're all pulling for each other as opposed to trying to beat each other. We don't get a chance to play team golf that often. It brings a different mentality.

"I think it was the most nervous I've ever been going out at Valderrama...I probably teed it up an inch-and-a-half higher to make sure I got it off the ground and didn't kill people 40 yards off the left edge of the tee."

Clarke has partnered Colin Montgomerie and Lee Westwood in previous Ryder Cup matches and admits he already knows who will be by his side come Friday next. "But I can't tell you," he said with a big smile. "There are ideas but they're not set in stone. We'll see what happens on the practice rounds."

There is every chance that Montgomerie and Clarke, who beat Fred Couples and Davis Love III in the 1997 fourballs but who were separated two years later at Brookline, will be reunited, especially because of Lee Westwood's poor run of form. Westwood and Clarke won twice and lost twice three years ago and Darren says he is encouraged by Lee's improved performances over the past few weeks.

"He's been working really hard and spending a lot of time on the range," he said. "It paid off a bit at Sahalee in the NEC and, even though he missed the cut in Switzerland, came through Germany OK and hopefully next week will raise his game.

There are few harder taskmasters on themselves than Darren Clarke and he admits disappointment that his world match triumph of 2000 hasn't been a springboard to even greater things.

"I've got a little older and allegedly a little wiser," he said. "I've become a little more consistent but I still haven't been able to turn that into the results I want.

"I've put a lot of work into trying to figure things out and you get a little technical when you do that and it becomes difficult to go out and score as well as you can when thinking about technique. I'll keep working but I'll try to get more into scoring as opposed to thinking about my swing all the time."