Clarke's priorities shift

The Open Championship would have been close to the top of Darren Clarke’s priorities in 2005 but things have changed considerably in six months.

Clarke’s wife Heather has been battling cancer since the turn of the year and her condition worsened in May, which resulted in the Northern Irishman pulling out midway through the European Tour’s flagship event the BMW Championship.

He also chose to miss the US Open at Pinehurst – the first time he had not played in a major since 1998 – to remain with his family and his schedule has been curtailed in recent weeks as a result.

It is not the best preparation for a major but Clarke himself admitted his wife’s battle against her illness had put things in perspective for him.

“There are more important issues to be dealt with than swinging a golf club,” he said of his decision to pull out of the US Open.

“I don’t have any expectations at the moment – they are not overly important to me right now.”

The Northern Irishman returned to competition in the Smurfit European Open at the K Club near Dublin and will hope to be in a reasonable frame of mind when he arrives at St Andrews, although he has admitted he would assess his situation on a weekly basis.

Clarke has yet to win in his curtailed schedule this year, his best result being his share of second at the Heritage Tournament at Hilton Head Island but even that was not without its share of problems.

He led by six strokes after shooting his best-ever 36-hole score – 12-under - with two 65s but a 73 on the Saturday saw him trailing by one heading into the final day.

Paired with Australian Peter Lonard, the pair went down the last level but Clarke lost his ball after pulling his approach into the thatchy beach area next to the green en route to a double bogey and a final-round 76.

He followed that with a joint fourth place the very next week at the Shell Houston Open with four sub-par rounds to show his game had not been adversely affected.

That was his last appearance on the PGA Tour this year but he left America boasting the top all-round ranking – which is reached by combining all the usual stats from driving distance right through to sand saves.

His first appearance in Europe at the British Masters brought a creditable joint eighth place and everything was looking promising for a profitable summer until that untimely withdrawal at Wentworth when his wife was admitted to hospital.

Not withstanding the mental anguish Clarke has gone through, his schedule has gone out the window and for him to rediscover the form he was showing back in May would be a major achievement.

“At the moment it’s just a case of hitting it, finding it and hitting it again,” admitted Clarke.

“I’ve been trying to work at home – an hour or two here and there. It’s been difficult to find some time to do any work but whenever I have, the swing has been not too bad. It’s just a case of seeing how things go, both on and off the course.”

If he is not to contend at St Andrews, Clarke would not be surprised to see an Irishman on the first page of the leaderboard – with Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley all capable of mounting a challenge.

“When you think about the size of us (Ireland) compared to other countries, I think we’re doing pretty well. There are a lot of good players,” he said.

However, should Clarke put together a couple of decent rounds at the home of golf he may find the wave of emotion and support from a British crowd could well inspire him to greater deeds.

But whatever happens the jovial Irishman will know, at the end of the day, it is just golf. And while lifting the Claret Jug may seem important, there are more important battles to be won in life.