Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn will be playing partners in the Madrid Masters barely a week after the row over Europe's Ryder Cup wildcard selections.

Clarke is making his golfing comeback following wife Heather's death, the 38-year-old having also been named as one of Ian Woosnam's picks after failing to qualify automatically.

Bjorn thought he should have been handed the second wildcard spot but lost out to Lee Westwood.

And while the Dane had no qualms over Clarke's selection, he was furious at losing out to the Englishman, launching a stinging attack on Woosnam's captaincy credentials which earned him a reported £10,000 fine.

Clarke entered this week's Madrid event - his first since The Open at Hoylake in July - as a warm-up for next week's match against the Americans.

Bjorn hoped it would be preparation for him too, but his non-selection led to him labelling Woosnam "pathetic" for his lack of communication in the final weeks of the qualifying race.

The Dane later apologised for his outburst, but that did not save him from being punished by the European Tour for a serious breach of their code of conduct.