BT/0663

Clarke puts poor show behind him

DARREN Clarke put his disappointing 19th place in the British Masters behind him to concentrate on his pro-am at Portmarnock today on behalf of the Omagh Bomb Fund.
At one point, Clarke was joint second before a closing 75 saw him drop away and he is likely to miss this week's Lancome Trophy in Paris.
Both he and Lee Westwood may also skip the £400,000 Belgacom Open in Belgium on October 1-4 and concentrate their efforts on the concluding £1 million Volvo Masters in Spain four weeks later.
"There's still a lot of money to play for," said Clarke.
Westwood was to have been one of those joining Clarke at Portmarnock, but the 25-year-old from Worksop pulled out to rest the hip that has been causing him problems in the last month.
A Canadian Harley Street specialist was treating him last week and has assured Westwood he is not aggravating the injury by playing tournaments. But rest is an important part of the healing process too.
His form is now worrying him more. Although he finished only five strokes behind Colin Montgomerie in 12th spot he said: I've been playing at about 30 per cent lately. I have my 'P' game with me -P for pathetic."
Meanwhile, Montgomerie has wasted no time giving the credit to coach Bill Ferguson for his comeback victory.
Two years ago Montgomerie split from Yorkshire man Ferguson believing that he had a better chance of becoming world number one -and winning a major -without him.
It did not happen, though, and last month the 35-year-old Scot picked up a phone in Seattle and asked for the help of the man who taught him golf in the first place.
"I made the right decision -and I should have made it earlier," said Montgomerie after his one-shot win.
The £125,000 cheque he collected yesterday was not enough to move him out of third place on the money list, but he is now only £26,050 behind Darren Clarke and £34,446 behind leader Westwood.