Clarke’s Ryder Cup dream over

DARREN CLARKE said goodbye to his dreams of playing in this year’s Ryder Cup last night at Whistling Straits but revealed he still has plenty of objectives for the rest of the season.

The 42-year-old posted a closing one-over-par 73 at the US PGA Championship to finish the final major of the year at one over par, some 14 strokes behind 54-hole leader Nick Watney’s starting position. Despite a mid-season flourish that saw him finish runner-up at the Scottish Open and tied for 12th at the 3 Irish Open last month and re-enter the world top 100 rankings, that was not enough to kick-start a charge up the European team points list that would have persuaded him to keep playing until the August 29 deadline.

Instead, Clarke will take a two-week break, finalise his move back home in the north after a decade in London and get his two sons started in their new schools safe in the knowledge he will be at Celtic Manor regardless in his role as one of three assistant captains to Colin Montgomerie.

“That’s definitely it, which is fine,” Clarke said of his chance of playing Ryder Cup. “I did my best. I would have played and carried on for the next weeks if I’d had a realistic chance of making the team but things haven’t worked out the way I wanted this week and so I’ve got to take a little bit of time off and prioritise and put the family first.”

Not that Clarke is done for the season. Far from it, he has a full schedule post-Ryder Cup that will take him right up to the Dubai World Championship in late November.

“I’ve still got quite a few (tournaments), I want to get as far up the (Race To Dubai) money list as I can. I’ve still got an awful lot to play for. I need top 20 (on the money list) to get into Doral (the WGC event in March) next year, the Open, the US Open; I want to get back up the world rankings and I’m very, very happy with the way I’m playing.”

There is still evidence that Clarke is capable of reaching those goals. His talent was highlighted last night by an eagle at the par-five fifth hole where he chipped in with a low-spinning lob wedge from 62 yards out.

But while he is more than happy with his game tee to green, Clarke’s putting remains a cause for concern.

“My putting has killed me this week. From tee to green I’ve been really good this week, apart from Friday morning when we came back (to complete the fog-delayed second round), and apart from that I’ve played almost as good as I can play.

“I’ve hit the ball really well, had some really great shots but putted poorly and lost my patience.”