Masters turns into damp squib for Irish pair

IT was a bitterly disappointing 67th Masters from an Irish perspective.

Because Padraig Harrington had sounded so positive beforehand, and because Darren Clarke started with a 66 for a three-shot lead, we at last believed a major championship might be on its way to Ireland.

We were sadly disillusioned, then, when Harrington missed the halfway cut and Clarke frittered away shots over the weekend until he eventually finished in a tie for 28th.

There were a few consolations for the latter, however. His prize money amounted to $43,500, which will help to pay some of the cost of the private jet that will whisk him back across the Atlantic, as soon as his involvement in this week’s Heritage Classic at Hilton Head comes to an end. Of probably even greater interest to a guy who likes these kinds of mementoes are the two pairs of crystal goblets he was presented with for his eagles at the 15th hole, in the first and third rounds, and a crystal vase for the low score in round one.

Clarke hopes to get himself back into the right mental shape for this week’s event, which is a manifestation of his intention to play more and more in the United States.

He insists that he likes the courses in America, and his guru Butch Harmon and sports psychologist Dr Bob Rotella are also living in the States.

“I’ve been playing pretty well over here, and an opportunity has arisen where I can take up my membership and I’m doing that,” he said. “I’ll still be at home supporting the big European events.

“I’ll be only playing two more tournaments in the States than I am playing this year, so it doesn’t make much difference to me.”

What has happened here is that Clarke and his manager and confidant Chubby Chandler believe there is little good reason at this stage of his career to play European Tour tournaments like the Madeira Island Open, the Portuguese Open, the Canaries Islands Open and the like.

He will either take those weeks off altogether or else compete in the States. He wants to achieve his full potential and believes this is the best way of doing so.

Padraig Harrington has so far shown no signs of taking up his membership of the US Tour, but will continue to play a number of events stateside. He too enjoys the conditions, and had genuinely believed that he could make a meaningful challenge for the green jacket at Augusta.

So he was a disappointed golfer leaving Georgia on Sunday, on his way home for a three-week competitive break before he returns for the Benson and Hedges International at The Belfry in mid-June.

Harrington is the type of player who could have ground out a couple of useful weekend scores had he given himself the chance. But poorly-played rounds of 77 and 73 put paid to that.

He missed the cut by one and his only consolation is the non-qualifier’s cheque for $5,000.