Clarke impresses on return

Darren Clarke birdied two of his first four holes and shared the lead today on his return to the European Tour following the death of his wife.

Clarke, who two weeks ago received a wild card into the Ryder Cup after declaring himself available for selection, had given a tearful press conference on the eve of the Madrid Masters at La Moraleja.

When the tournament began, however, the Ulsterman birdied the 11th and 13th holes to be two under par.

It was Clarke’s first appearance since he crashed out of the British Open with a second round 82 in July saying he would not be playing “for the foreseeable future” because of his wife’s cancer battle.

She died on August 13 at the age of just 39.

Also part of a seven-way tie for the lead was playing partner Thomas Bjorn, who lashed out at Ian Woosnam’s captaincy of the European tour after losing out to Lee Westwood for the second wild card.