Just what the doctor ordered for Clarke

He has helped to make multi millionaires of many of his clients and in the process hasn’t done too badly himself. Ireland’s top two, Padraig Harrington and Darren Clarke, are among his disciples and Clarke in particular has been taking much of what Rotella has to say to heart.

For instance, in his new laid-back persona yesterday, Darren went so far as to say “this is just another tournament, obviously one I would very much like to play well in, but I’ve spent six or seven hours on the range every day before majors in the past and I think now that has been to my detriment. Instead, this week I’m trying to go and play like I have been over the past few weeks without beating myself up.”

Clarke first came to the Masters in 1998 when after scraping through the first two rounds, shot 67, 68 through the week-end to finish a very creditable eighth. Since then, though, his record has been well short of what could reasonably have been expected of a golfer of his undoubted ability. He missed the cut in 1999 and has been 40th, 24th and 20th in the intervening three years.

There is unquestionably a question mark over Clarke’s putting. It’s not that he doesn’t stroke the ball well or that his touch isn’t up to the required standard. It’s just that, for some reason he and many advisers have been unable to explain, he seems to be “burning” the hole on a remarkably consistent basis. Accordingly, he has taken drastic action to remedy a problem that has been eating him up inside. And, again, Rotella is the prime

motivator.

Yet when I told Darren that I didn’t quite understand what the change entailed, he turned with a big grin and admitted that he himself wasn’t all that sure either!

“I’m just freeing myself and not thinking about making a perfect stroke all the time, pick my line and just hit it,” he explained. “Whenever I do that, I can’t do anything more. If it goes in, it goes in, if not, so be it. I spent so much time in the past trying to get the pace perfect, the line perfect, all that sort of stuff and that’s what I’m trying to get away from. I hit it a lot quicker and, yeah, Dr Bob, had much to do with this.

“It’s becoming easier and easier. I have seen the rewards, I’m certainly making a much more fluid stroke and hopefully we’ll keep doing that and a few more will go in. It’s not a new routine, I’ve used it at Bay Hill and the TPC. Putting well goes through everybody’s game. Ask any of the guys and they will tell you if they’re putting well, there’s a lot more confidence there.”

I watched Clarke in practice yesterday morning and counted three seconds between lining up the putt and actually striking it. Sounds scary, especially at Augusta, but he has faith in the method and that’s at least half the battle.

“I had a nice wander around for nine holes this morning, the course is obviously very damp after all the rain, and I don’t think they’ll be able to get the mowers on around the greens to get them cut down as much as they would like so nine are enough for today”, he reasoned before heading off to the range for a session with coach Butch Harmon.

“I haven’t been hitting the ball as good as this at any stage coming into the Masters, so hopefully I can continue with that kind of ball striking and improve on my past results. Hopefully, if I keep hitting it the way I have been, then I’ll give myself a chance to win.

“I’m not bothered at missing out on a practice round on Monday. I’ve played here often enough to know where the bad places are. It’s playing longer now but either way it’s still a pretty tough test. And, yeah, Tiger is the man to beat this week, every week.

All said quietly and calmly as if to underline this was the new Darren Clarke we were chatting with. And, you know, there could just be something in it given that he slept so soundly on Monday night that he missed an 8am first tee appointment yesterday with the same Tiger Woods.

“I slept in”, he said a little shamefully. “I went to bed last night at half eight and woke up at half six. I was out for the count. It’s good and bad because I had arranged to play with Tiger and I would like to have kept the appointment but a good rest doesn’t do any harm, especially coming into this week when it’s going to be so mentally demanding. Fingers crossed I can make my appointment tomorrow with Davis Love, Fred Couples and David Duval.

“I’ve been at home with Heather and the kids since the TPC, had a nice relaxing week and didn’t do a whole lot. I came here on Sunday night with my game in good shape, it’s been pretty good nearly all of this year so far and the results have gone some way to show that. The changes have all been productive and I want to keep on working at the things I’ve been doing and turn those scores into better results.”

Perhaps it’s wishful thinking but I believe there is good reason to believe ‘the new Darren Clarke’ can make his presence felt this week.

Rotella certainly seems to have made him a lot more at ease with himself, quieter, more relaxed, almost easy going.

When asked what he was looking most to this week, he replied: “Playing again. I’m really enjoying it, so I just want to get out there. I’m not going to get ahead of myself but I’m pretty comfortable at the moment.”