Clarke withdraws from Malaysian Open

Darren Clarke has given up the chance to qualify for the Accenture World Match Play Championship by pulling out of this week’s Malaysian Open.

At 73rd in the world, Clarke would probably have needed to finish first or second to climb into the top 64 just in time for the cut-off point next Monday.

The match play event is the one the 40-year-old won in 2000 by beating Tiger Woods four and three in the final.

Clarke’s next event will now be the US Tour’s Honda Classic on March 5-8 and he will then have a month to try to make it into the Masters field by climbing into the world’s top 50.