Darren Clarke closes in on Ryder Cup spot
Thursday, 28 August 2008
Darren Clarke is hoping for a wild card into this year’s Ryder Cup team.
NORTHERN Ireland's Darren Clarke opened the door for a wild card place in next month's Ryder Cup with a four stroke winning margin at the KLM Open in Holland on Sunday as he now turns his attention to more weekend success at Gleneagles.
But while it was smiles all around for Clarke, in near by Denmark, the challenge from Porstewart's Paul Cutler to lift the European Amateur Championship fell away.
Cutler led the way going into the last day but two early bogeys and a double bogey on the ninth eventually saw him sign for a disappointing 77 which left him a tie for 11th.
It was a very different story for Cutler on Friday when a hole-in-one at Esjberg on the 13th took the in-form Irish International to within sight of the European Amateur Individual title and a second Gold Medal this summer. He aced the 145-yard 13th on his way to a three-under-par 68 which lifted him to the top of the leaderboard with one round remaining.
That excellent score gave Cutler a 54-hole total of 209, four under par, and a one-stroke advantage over German Stephen Gross and English international Luke Goddard.
But in the final round on Saturday, Cutler's form slipped away and German Stephen Gross walked away with the gold medal.
Clarke's success at Zandvoort at the weekend has catapulted him to 15th place in the European Tour Order of Merit and up to 56th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Clarke began the last day three clear, but there was a shock in store for him because after just three holes playing partner Henrik Stenson had turned that deficit into a stroke advantage. He started with a hat-trick of birdies whereas Clarke went over the green on the long second and ran up a bogey six.
However, Clarke birdied three of the next four and with the Swede making a mess of the seventh and ninth - bogey and double bogey - he started the back nine four clear and for good measure birdied the next three holes.
While the Ulsterman's 66 for a 16-under-par total came too late for him to force his way into an automatic cup spot, Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo will hand out two wild cards next Sunday and Clarke now looks favourite to accept one of those.
However, should he not make it, he says he has no problem whatsoever if there are other players more deserving of a pick than himself.
“It's the Captain's prerogative - that's why he is the Captain.
“It's his call and if he thinks there are other guys more deserving of a pick then I have no problem with that whatsoever," said Clarke.
Summing up his victory in Holland, Clarke said:
“It always feels good to play well when you really have to and winning by four shots demonstrated just how well I played against a strong field.
“It's up to Nick and who he sees fit to help the team [Ryder Cup]. I needed to play well to make him have a look at me regarding a pick and hopefully I can go to Gleneagles and play well there as well."
Clarke knew he had to play well last week if he was to even be considered a wild card option and his victory on top of such pressure is all the more sweet for him.
“I'm not sure where I rate the win, but playing well when you have to is a very good feeling and I had to play well this week. Otherwise I wouldn't have put myself in consideration for The Ryder Cup.
“I had two weeks to try to impress Nick and the first is out of the way and I seem to have done that. I don't know if I've done enough, but I'm going to Gleneagles in better shape and hopefully he will take notice."
Clarke has now certainly caught the eye of Faldo who will announce his wild card picks for the team after the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles this weekend.
