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.