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.

He has risen from the fifth best-placed Australian to being their top ranked player and if he can maintain his remarkable run, it will only be a short time before he climbs into the top ten. Appleby led Singh by six shots going into the final round of the Mercedes but saw his advantage whittled away by the remarkably consistent Fijian who eventually birdied the last to end up one off the pace.

Those who rate Singh a good bet for great things over the coming months will have noted this latest performance with satisfaction. While

Appleby reaped the richest harvest, Singh now has an average of 9.95 world ranking points, 4.22 behind Tiger Woods, who celebrates his 231st week as world number one.

The top 12 now reads: 1st Tiger Woods, 2nd Vijay Singh, 3rd Ernie Els, 4th Davis Love III, 5th Jim Furyk, 6th Mike Weir, 7th Retief Goosen, 8th Kenny Perry, 9th David Toms, 10th Padraig Harrington, 11th Stuart Appleby, 12th Darren Clarke.

In spite of drifting out a spot in the rankings, Clarke has every reason to be happy with his performance in Hawaii. Rounds of 67, 69, 69 and 70 for a total of 275 round a course of more than 7,400 yards highlights the quality of his golf and his physical improvement, after losing 30lbs.

However, the red mist once again enveloped Clarke on Saturday after he missed a few good birdie chances. He snapped at a cameraman and looked decidedly grumpy. He admitted: “If I was smoking, I would have gone through a few. I got into the habit of smoking on the golf course, a habit I’m trying to break.”

But it was sweetness and light again after his eight iron from 192 yards spun into the cup at the 17th for an eagle two. Even then, he wasn’t entirely happy, saying that he had taken 33 putts “and was missing them from everywhere”.

On Sunday, he shot a solid 70 to ensure third spot on his own and a cheque for $400,000. Appleby’s first prize amounted to $1,060, 000 and Singh picked up $600,000. Tiger Woods got off to a bad start but once again showed that he never gives up by closing with a couple of 65s to share fourth with Retief Goosen. They each won $275,000.

The US Tour stays in Hawaii this week for the Sony Open and Clarke will again be in action. The complexity of the world ranking points system continues to baffle the best brains but it is a pretty safe bet that another big finish will enable him to improve his average and maybe bump back into the top ten. Eighth spot is the best he has achieved in a career that continues to progress in spite of his disenchantment with his putting.

The 2004 European Tour resumes with the South African Open at Erinvale, Somerset West. Lee Westwood, who made a welcome return to form in ‘03, and Colin Montgomerie, who struggled for much of the season, are among the fancied players in the field.

Peculiarly, the “Irish” challenge includes Mark McNulty, the Zimbabwean who led the Tour School for the US Champions Tour in November. Shortly afterwards, McNulty was granted Irish citizenship and so intends to represent this country in the future. Also taking part will be Paul McGinley and Peter Lawrie, both hoping to eat into the Order of Merit, led by Pádraig Harrington through his victory in Hong Kong in November. The Dubliner won’t be in competitive action until the Malaysian Open on February 20.

The Irish region of the PGA are looking for sponsors for the Irish Championship following he withdrawal of the Smurfit organisation.

Smurfit annually injected approximately 140, 000 into the event since 1991 but new owners Madison Dearborn, have pulled out and have not renewed Paul McGinley’s contract as K Club tournament professional.

McGinley captured the title four times since 1997, most recently at Adare Manor last September.