NEWLYWED DARREN Clarke hopes he can stop his slide back down the world rankings at this weekend’s Ballantine’s Championship in South Korea.
The 43-year-old Ulsterman, who remarried in the Bahamas two weeks ago – six years after losing his first wife to cancer – rose from 111th in the world to 30th with his memorable victory at Sandwich last July. But the British Open champion has not had a top-10 finish since, and after missing the cut at the Masters earlier this month finds himself 69th.
“It’s been good to have another little break again and obviously get married again,” he said at Blackstone Golf Club. “I feel very lucky, but it is back to work again now and try to get back into my golf again. I’ve had a couple of weeks on the beach. I practised a little bit when I was there, so I’ll be a little bit rusty this week, but hopefully I’ll get back into it.”
Clarke is travelling with the Open claret jug and so has a constant reminder of the greatest day of his golfing life. “It’s certainly a privilege for me to bring it with me most places where I go,” he added.
With Lee Westwood choosing not to defend the title he won by a shot from Miguel Angel Jimenez last May, the highest-ranked player in the field is world number 12 Adam Scott.
The 31-year-old Australian, who came joint-eighth at Augusta after a closing 66 which included a hole-in-one at the 16th, is a former winner of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Beijing and three Singapore Opens.
England’s Ian Poulter and Paul Casey are also in the field. Poulter was seventh in the Masters and third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two weeks earlier – and that while he was still recovering from pneumonia.
