Irish stars lapping up birdies and banquets

IF a happy home is a key to success, watch out this week for the golfing trio of Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood and Paul McGinley as they battle for the 84th US PGA Championship at Hazeltine some twenty miles south of the twin cities of Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota.

Canny manager Andrew (Chubby) Chandler not alone rented a house a couple of miles from the course and out of reach of the many traffic snarl-ups which threaten chaos for the 40,000 fans gathering in Minneapolis each day, but he also brought out his own cordon bleu chef, Paul Linaker, to ensure that the inner man was also satisfactorily looked after.

McGinley, of course, is the odd one out in the quartet. He is a trim, dapper 5 ft 7 inch, 12 stone ball of health.