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.