Philip Reid talks to the Ulsterman about trying to rediscover theform he had early in the season.

"There," said Davis Love, pushing a plastic bag with two large cigars in Darren Clarke's direction, "that should get you through the front nine."

In a way, it could have been an early birthday present for Clarke - who celebrates his 35th today, the first round of the US PGA Championship - but the player, accepting the cigars while standing outside the mock Tudor clubhouse at Oak Hill Country Club yesterday, would much rather something good would happen his game on the course.

Clarke is his own hardest taskmaster and, after a disappointing British Open and a poor Irish Open, he knuckled down in an attempt to rediscover the ball-striking that saw him hit the ball better than anyone in the early part of the season. Whenever he went to the range, and it was often, he used an arm brace - given to him by his coach Butch Harmon - which is designed to help him to shorten his swing: and, that, according to Clarke, is the key.

"When my swing goes long, I have to use my hands too much. My timing has to be perfect and, the more important the week, the less you can rely on your hands. By getting a little bit short (in the backswing), hopefully that keeps the hands better," he explained.

"If you look at Tiger, or Davis, any of those guys, they are all just short of parallel at the top. That's my whole idea."

The arm brace was Harmon's idea. "You just put it on," explained Clarke, "and it automatically helps make your swing shorter. It can only be a benefit, not a hindrance. My old bad habit is getting my swing too long and my hands get too close to my head, and the brace stops that."

Certainly, Clarke's demeanour is a far cry from the dark clouds that descended on him after his performance in the British Open at Sandwich, where he struggled to a tied-59th place finish.

"That's the tournament I want to win more than any, and I built myself up for it," said Clarke. "I worked really hard at the start of the year, was hitting the ball really well and, then, for the month before it, even at the K Club (European Open) and Loch Lomond (Scottish Open) where I finished fifth and second, I didn't really hit the ball well. I just got it around.

"Then, I got down to the Open and I really wanted to play well and I wasn't able to do that with my swing, and it was the same again at Portmarnock, I had no idea where the ball was going."

He felt things were starting to click into place in last week's International tournament in Denver and, on arriving here at Rochester, worked all day Monday with Harmon on the range. His first venture out on to the course came on Tuesday, and he was highly impressed.

"The course is fantastic. It's very, very tough but fair," insisted Clarke. "The rough is brutal, even worse than it was in the US Open at Bethpage last year. At least in Bethpage you could move it 100 yards out of the rough, here 100 yards is a good shot. We haven't had bad rough in any of the majors so far this year and they seem to be making up for that here."

Clarke has survived the cut in all three majors this season - a tied-28th finish at the Masters where he led after the first round is his best finish - but wants to do more than that. He wants to contend.

"I'm coming to America long enough to know what to expect from the courses. I've worked hard on my swing and I feel as if something is happening. All I want to do is to play as well as I can and see how I get on. If I play as well as I can, hopefully I can give myself a chance on Sunday. There is no point in saying I'm going to do this or I'm going to do that. I just want to go out and play well."

For a man who likes to live life in the fast lane, with more cars than his garage can hold, what birthday present was he getting for himself? "None . . . a score in the 60s would be good enough for me," he insisted.

As they say, it's in his own hands.