Irish pair slip in rankings

DESPITE shooting 17 under par and finishing third on his own in the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii at the weekend, Darren Clarke has dropped from 11th to 12th in the world rankings.

Clarke won’t be happy as his goal for 2004 is to improve his world position to 5th. The situation is worse for Pádraig Harrington who dropped from 8th to 10th. The downgrading of the Irish pair is due to Stuart Appleby’s victory in Hawaii where he held on to win by a shot from fast finishing Vijay Singh, and move up to 11th.

Appleby began 2003 back in 46th place but since the Lumber Classic last September he has finished 2nd, 2nd, 12th, 27th, 11th and now 1st.