Relaxed Clarke ready for business
He will put his personal grief and problems to one side as much as possible and is satisfied that he can contribute to Europe’s bid to retain the Ryder Cup and win it for the third time in four matches.
Fresh from his first tournament since mid-July in Madrid at the weekend, Clarke has arrived at The K Club to prepare for this fourth successive appearance in the match looking and sounding great.
Given that his wife, Heather, passed away on August 13, many have been fearful that tackling the Ryder Cup in his home country only six weeks later will prove an emotional step too far for the big Dungannon man.
However, last night he told the Irish Examiner: “I’m alright and I will be alright.”
“There are bound to be a few difficult moments. But when it comes to the first tee, it won’t be any more difficult than it normally is because that’s back to the golfing side of things. It’s what I do. I won’t be any more nervous than I have been in previous Ryder Cups. Yes, the emotional side will be a factor but when the golf starts, we’re back to the business of playing,” said Clarke.
“Look, the Ryder Cup is one of the biggest events in the world, there’s no golf tournament like it in the world. There’s nothing that should overshadow the event. It’s not necessarily that I’ll feel happier on the golf course than off the golf course. I’m actually not bad in other places to tell the truth. I have my moments but overall I’m very comfortable with what I’m doing.
“Heather suffered for four years and it was very difficult to watch that. If anything good could have come out of it, it’s probably been getting closer to my boys. I’ve had to look after them a bit more than I would normally have done.”
He did reveal that his two sons, Tyrone, 8, and Conor, 6, may come over from their home in Surrey for Thursday’s opening ceremony.
“I did think long and hard about whether I should be here this week,” Clarke admitted. “I came to the conclusion that I would help the team and benefit the team if I was here. I want to play, I want to compete and I want to help my teammates. I was desperate to play a Ryder Cup in Ireland but if I didn’t think I would contribute to the team, I would have made myself unavailable.
“It’s obviously huge for Ireland. We had the Special Olympics three years ago and that was huge. This is even bigger. This is a worldwide audience with approximately one billion people watching. You don’t get a much better advertisement than that for the whole country. Not only have we got The K Club but we have many other fantastic courses here as well.
“It’s nice to know I have so much support. The kind words that Tiger said recently and from all the guys, I really appreciate it. A lot of people understand the position I’m in. I’ve had a very emotional time of late but as soon as the bell goes, I’m there to play golf and try and play my best and hopefully my best will be good enough to earn some points for the team.
“The last few Ryder Cups have been played in a better spirit. I lost Heather, Tiger lost his father, Chris DiMarco lost his mum. There are more important things than trying to win this week. In the end, though, we’re all professionals. We all want to win for our teams. And as friendly as we are, I’m sure we’re going to try to beat each other as soon as we stand on the first tee but at the end of the day, it’s not life and death.”
Europe may be going into a Ryder Cup for the first time as favourites but that cuts little or no ice with Clarke and the rest of the side. Clarke doesn’t even accept that playing at home on a course all his team — with the exception of Luke Donald — know very well and in conditions that they would be more familiar with will make a lot of difference.
“It depends on what the weather is going to be like,” he maintained. “The forecast is for wet and windy although we never know what it’s going to be like here. Yes, knowing the course can only benefit the Europeans and it’s a small advantage that we might need.”
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