Clarke stoical as he eyes up major

TWO Irishmen watched Greg Owen’s misery at Bay Hill on Sunday from the closest possible quarters.

Darren Clarke, one of the hapless Englishman's playing partners, was as shocked as anybody else when Owen rushed a 20-inch putt on the 17th green and missed it to run up a double-bogey five. He had lost his two-stroke advantage over Rodney Pampling and a bogey at the last handed the title to the Australian.

The other Irishman was Owen's caddie, JP Fitzgerald, and he was more than just shocked at the way a significant tournament and a sum in the region of half-a-million dollars had been thrown away.

JP will be remembered as a two-time Irish Close Championship finalist and in the course of his career he enjoyed a win over Darren Clarke for whom he was to also caddie in later years.

Fitzgerald was a doughty competitor in his own right and would have been appalled by the manner in which his boss failed to compose himself on that fateful 17th green. Now, though, Owen, Clarke and Fitzgerald move on to Sawgrass for this week's Players Championship, not quite sure what lies in wait.

For Clarke, the so-called "fifth major" is probably coming at a good time, given how well he competed at Bay Hill after the irregular start he has had to his 2006 campaign. That was due to a combination of his wife Heather's continuing battle with cancer and a wrist injury he picked up from overdoing it on the practice range. His third round of 63 at Bay Hill was a superb effort, easily the best of the week, and reminiscent of the 60s he shot some years ago in Monaco and the Smurfit European Open at The K-Club.

It is impossible not to feel sympathy for Clarke given his domestic situation but he is due considerable credit for the way he's been handling everything.

"Heather's doing okay although she's having a pretty tough battle at the minute," he reports. "She had a couple of weeks of very intensive treatment two weeks ago for another situation, so she's had a very tough time but she's battling hard.

"As you can probably see from my results, it's affecting me quite a bit. That's natural, it's bound to. Golf is nowhere near the top of my priorities but at the same time, I'm not just going out to make up the numbers, I want to try and compete."

Because Darren is such a big man, a snappy dresser and something of a bon viveur, the misconception gets about that he doesn't work as hard at his game as many of his contemporaries.

"It's difficult to go and hit balls with turtlenecks, fleeces on, waterproofs on," he says before adding: "You go to the States and it's green and warm and a lot different. The toughest part is not quite playing enough tournaments. You can only hit the shots you need to hit while competing in tournaments. It's different practising at home. Hopefully, I'm going to play a little bit more and then I'll be more comfortable with what I'm trying to do."

He says he stayed "ridiculously sober for St Patrick's Day which goes against all my principles".

As most people know, Darren's identification mark on his golf balls is a shamrock and while he prefers not to talk about his own particular involvement given all the uncertainty, he is in no doubt that the Ryder Cup at The K-Club is going to be a great occasion.

"It's the biggest sporting event ever held in Ireland," he mused. "You've got the eyes of the world focusing on The K-Club near Dublin. We are very hospitable people, we like to have a drink and a bit of fun. It's going to be an unbelievable atmosphere. The Irish are going to be very welcoming to everybody and we'll be pleased when we see the people that made an effort to travel to Ireland. The atmosphere is going to be great, the people are going to be very friendly and I think it's going to be a fantastic event."

As far as his own direct participation is concerned, Clarke is quite philosophical. Third place at Bay Hill has seen him shoot up to 9th in the vital world-ranking points so in truth one big victory would probably seal his place. But he's not looking at the subject in that light, at least not for the moment. I don't know if I'm going to play next week, I don't know if I'm going to play the week after," he points out. "I would love to be part of the Ryder Cup in Ireland but that's too far ahead for me to have any idea what's going on.

"Hence there's no point in me looking at the Ryder Cup points list. If I qualify, then great. If not, you don't want to be there if you're not on top of your game. If I was close to making the team, that would be a different scenario, but if I was far off from making it, the last place I would want to be is standing on the first tee under that amount of pressure and not quite knowing where the ball is going. I'd rather have a few pints of Guinness and watch it on TV."

Around this time last year, Clarke and Padraig Harrington found themselves in similar situations, each having a loved one battling serious illness. Whereas Padraig's father passed away in July, Heather Clarke is putting up the greatest fight imaginable and this in turn has caused her husband to see life in a different light.

"Things change, things happen and you've got to take a step back and take a look at them," says Darren. "It's a pretty tough thing that we're having to deal with at the moment, I've just got to reassess things, realign things and golf is not at the top of them.

"Padraig and I have spoken about it. He had a very tough time last year and sadly his father passed away and that affected him greatly. But this is a different scenario; Heather is fighting hard and doing okay at the minute. So I don't want to get too far ahead. Padraig's certainly very supportive and always asks me what's going on."

Clarke, Harrington and McGinley are hoping for big things in the $8 million Players Championship.

Compare that with the €700,000 Madeira Island on the European Tour where Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Gary Murphy, David Higgins, Stephen Browne and Colm Moriarty carry the direct Irish interest.