McIlroy best placed to end Europe’s Grand Slam hoodoo

DARREN CLARKE has enjoyed something of a golfing honeymoon since his magnificent victory in the Open Championship at Royal St Georges in July.

In that period, he has played five tournaments, missing the cut in three, the Irish Open, the US PGA Championship and the Dunhill Masters as well as finishing 35th in the European Masters and 68th in the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, an event that doesn’t have a cut.

Like any person who enjoys life, Clarke was always going to celebrate such a momentous victory. Nothing wrong with that but the time is now overdue where stringing a few noteworthy results together again is concerned.

He could hardly choose a more suitable arena than the Port Royal course in Southampton, Bermuda, where he takes on 2011’s other major championship winners Charl Schwartzel, Rory McIlroy and Keegan Bradley in the Grand Slam of Golf today and tomorrow.

There are no world or European Tour points at stake in this 36 hole event but it is of enormous prestige and a win would certainly put Clarke in the right frame of mind for his next tournament appearance in the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama next week.

He owes his current 9th place in the European Tour’s Race to Dubai order of merit to his Open Championship triumph and to a much lesser extent to a win in the Iberdrola Masters in Majorca earlier in the year. Having begun 2011 in 111th place in the world, he jumped up a massive 80 spots to 30th after St Georges. Since then, he has fallen four spots to 34th.

The bookies certainly don’t expect a whole lot from Clarke this week, quoting him an 11/2 outsider behind McIlroy, the favourite at 11/8; Schwartzel, 2/1 and Bradley 7/2.

Ireland has had plenty of direct interest in the Grand Slam over the past few years after Pádraig Harrington’s major successes in 2007 and 2008 and Graeme McDowell in 2010. However, this particular title has yet to come our way, a situation McIlroy especially looks well capable of rectifying given that he has been in a rich vein of form lately — he has been runner-up twice and third twice in his last four tournament appearances.

The Grand Slam has been running since 1979 and the only European champion so far has been Ian Woosnam, another reason why it would give Clarke — now 43 years of age, the greatest of pleasures, to put one over on his three much younger rivals — McIlroy (22), Bradley (25), and Schwartzel (27).

After the sensational achievement of 20 year-old Englishman Tom Lewis in winning the Portugal Masters in only his third professional appearance in Vilamoura on Sunday, the European Tour has yet another exciting new kid on the block to go alongside Rory McIlroy and Matteo Manassero.

Sergio Garcia is one of those behind this week’s €2m Castello Masters at his home club near Valencia and the event is the first beneficiary of the young Englishman’s newfound fame. Garcia himself is obviously another major attraction along with John Daly and Andres Romero with the direct Irish interest represented by recent Dunhill winner Michael Hoey, Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Gareth Maybin and Damien McGrane.

These end of season events are now becoming more and more significant for those seeking places either in the lucrative, year ending Race to Dubai or trying to retain their cards for the 2012 campaign.

The top 60 make it to Dubai and Lawrie is currently 55th. But Lowry is 62nd while Pádraig Harrington remains seven places outside the final qualifying spot and hasn’t entered either the Valencia tournament or next week’s Andalucian Masters. McGrane (107th), and especially Maybin (114th) are a little too close to the danger zone for comfort.