Bright start a tonic for slimline Clarke

Despite a mid-round mishap Darren Clarke has put his new slimmed-down frame into contention to end a more than two-year winless drought at the Valspar Championship in Tampa, Florida.

Clarke was a late entry into the US$5.7m event having driven down from Palm Beach Gardens on Tuesday and then only formally registering for the event just prior to teeing off in Wednesday afternoon’s Pro-Am.

The former British Open champion got his first look at the Copperhead course on Tuesday when he breezed around with caddy Andy Sutton in just two-and-a-half hours, before soaking in more than six-hours on the course in Wednesday’s Pro-Am.