Clarke: I offered to stand down

Darren Clarke has revealed he offered to stand down from the Ryder Cup Friday foursomes to ease the pressure on captain Ian Woosnam, who faced a tough decision on who to leave out.

Clarke and Lee Westwood beat Americans Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco in the opening-day fourballs and the Northern Irishman, who received tremendous support all weekend having lost his wife Heather to cancer recently, insists he was happy to stand down and cheer his team-mates on in the afternoon.