Clarke gets back in the swing

GETTING quickly back into the groove didn’t prove to be a problem for Darren Clarke last year when he shot the lights out and finished second to Retief Goosen in the Africa Open.

But as he embarks on his 20th European Tour season in the now dual-sanctioned Sunshine Tour event, the big Ulster man is setting off into the unknown in terms of his game and the sport as a whole.

Since Tiger Woods announced he was taking an indefinite break from the game, golf has thrown up many questions that can only be answered when the circus rolls on without him this week in the SBS Open in Hawaii and the latest co-sanctioned event on the now global European Tour schedule.