Family guy Davis leads as stars struggle in strong wind

IT'S fascinating to note how off-course issues so frequently impact for better or worse on touring professionals.

Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke have been coping for some time with the fact that their nearest and dearest are battling serious illness. Tiger Woods is in a similar situation. Marriage break-up nearly caused the end of Colin Montgomerie's career. That's the negative side.

But there are many positives, too - as Brian Davis, the current leader of the Daily Telegraph Dunlop Masters at the Forest of Arden will testify.

Londoner Davis, 30, became the first Englishman to win the US Tour qualifying school last year. By and large he has cashed in on that splendid performance, having already played the 15 tournaments he is committed to by the tour's rules, and is virtually sure to retain his card for 2006.

Having his wife and one-year-old son Oliver travelling with him has proved a blessing, but there have been downers as well. Like when he missed "a bunch of putts" - and the cut - in Phoenix, he was like a devil as he walked off the course.

"I was hugely disappointed when my little boy stood up in the car and said 'Dada', all of a sudden I didn't care about golf," Davis glowed.

"Things like that make it a little easier. My wife is pregnant again and came back to England three weeks earlier as she wasn't feeling too good. I got my card in that time, which was great, but even better to see how much Oliver had changed in the meantime. It is nice to be able to see the family when I am out on tour."

With the wind howling across the Forest of Arden and golf balls bouncing unpredictably on the rock-hard fairways and firm greens, Davis had only to play solidly to claim the lead at four under. His 71 should really have been better, for he twice found the lake at the downwind par five 17th (his eighth) which was comfortably in range of two shots and which Darren Clarke reduced to a drive and seven iron. The resultant eight might have knocked Davis out of his stride but to his credit he scrambled a good par at the difficult short 18th before an impressive four birdies and a single bogey on his second nine.

In all, only six finished below regulation and the cut mark was seven over. With the same winds predicted for the weekend, there will be many other disaster stories.

The US success of Greg Owen and Davis, regarded more or less as journeymen pros in Europe, has been one of the more interesting talking points of the golf season to date. Both men have already clinched their cards for 2006, so how does Davis now compare the standard on both tours?

"There are players in Europe who don't do as well over here who might do well in America," he reasoned. "And there are some guys who will go over there and struggle because of the different shots and different type of golf and, of course, living in America. Although we speak the same language, it is different and some people can't get used to that. It just doesn't suit some families. It's not just the golf.

"Woods, Singh and Els drive it so far it doesn't matter if they're in the rough. But guys like myself, who hit it average length, must make the fairway if they want to compete. In Europe, there's a lot more skill involved. If you miss the greens, you have a chip. You have to play a lot more skill shots. In the States, they're standard shots and anyway if you miss a green you are probably in water. It's two different types of golf and I think we are getting much closer in depth."

Ireland's Darren Clarke mixed the ridiculous with the sublime when shooting an even par 72.

At the long 7th, his 14th, he topped a three iron second shot that travelled no more than a hundred yards. He admitted it wouldn't have bothered him had the ground opened up and swallowed him, he was so embarrassed.

But there were golden moments too. The best of all came at the long 17th where he used the wind to belt his drive 343 yards down the fairway and followed with a seven iron to within three feet of the cup. The resultant eagle three was one of the highlights of a round in which Clarke demonstrated commendable fighting qualities but not a whole lot more.

"My swing was terrible on Thursday, today it was even worse", Darren claimed. "Thomas [Bjorn, his playing partner] gave me a few tips after we signed our cards, he told me I wasn't getting the left shoulder behind it at all, that I was picking up the club rather than making a turn. It's a tendency I have whenever it gets windy after growing up at home on links and trying to hit it too low. And if I don't make my turn, then the other bits and pieces I'm working on aren't going to work. Thomas is a big help - we all look after each other when things aren't right."

Of the eight Irish starters, Clarke, Gary Murphy, Graeme McDowell, Damien McGrane and Paul McGinley survive into the weekend.