Clarke drops out of German Masters

The expected 10 European Ryder Cup players competing at this week’s Linde German Masters in Cologne was cut to eight today.

One of those, Darren Clarke, did not feel fit enough to take part in the eve-of-tournament pro-am.

First Lee Westwood decided to stay at home with wife Laurae, son Samuel and new arrival Poppy Grace, born on Sunday.

Then David Howell, one of five new caps in Bernhard Langer’s line-up, withdrew from the £2m (€3m) event because of a heavy cold.

And this morning Clarke pulled out of the pro-am after hurting his right wrist.

“It’s nothing much, just a little tweak,” said the Ulsterman. “I went to the physios who had a look at it and strapped it up purely as a precaution.

“I felt it when I caught one a little heavy on the range. I’ve had stuff like this before and everything is fine. It’s okay when I hit short pitch shots, but on the longer shot I feel it a little bit, so I didn’t want to go out and play in the pro-am and make it any worse.

“I’ll be fine for the tournament.”

Sergio Garcia decided two weeks ago that he was not going to play and Luke Donald, winner of the European Masters in Switzerland last weekend, is the other player resting before the trip to Detroit.