Clarke and Daly seek Spanish sparkle

A PAIRING of the players ranked 112th and 595th in the world would not normally attract major interest on the European Tour, but it will at the Spanish Open in Seville starting tomorrow.

Darren Clarke, back in the hunt for a Ryder Cup place after his first Tour win for five years in China on Sunday, partners larger-than-life John Daly in the first two rounds.

The American, who celebrated his 42nd birthday on Monday, is over in Europe after a troubled start to his year at home.

In nine starts on the US Tour Daly has only twice completed four rounds and has earned less than $30,000 (€19, 276).

Coach Butch Harmon stopped working with him, saying “the most important thing in his life is getting drunk”, but Daly will be hoping the recent repair of a torn stomach muscle allows him to show some better form.

Clarke’s victory last weekend achieved with a closing 40-foot birdie putt, was his first since his wife Heather died of breast cancer in August 2006.

“I just want to keep playing the way I have been,” he said. “I think there is a lot of good golf in me yet and, as frustrating a time as it has been, it is nice to see the work paying off.

“Hopefully I will put myself in a position to challenge for tournaments a lot more frequently. Whether I win them or not is another matter.

“If anything, my win has given me renewed vigour to carry on and keep working because I want more of this.”

Colin Montgomerie plays for the first time since his second marriage – and for the first time since he failed to win a place in The Masters.