Liverpool fan Darren Clarke did what his team failed to do by converting an early chance in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth today.

Clarke was returning to action after pulling out of two events in America and then withdrawing from last week's Irish Open because of a hamstring strain.

His birdie came at the short second and put him only one behind early pacesetter Paul  Broadhurst, but it did owe a little to luck.

The Ulsterman's tee shot flew left of the green, but kicked off a bank to within four feet of the flag.

Clarke also had an opportunity on the difficult first, which after two hours play in the European Tour's flagship event had still to see its first birdie.

There was an anxious moment after his massive drive ran into rough so thick that a search was needed to find the ball. But from there he hit his approach to 10 feet and narrowly missed the putt.

Broadhurst birdied the second and third to nose ahead of a group which contained Clarke's playing partner Jose Maria Olazabal.

Scots Alastair Forsyth and Andrew Coltart, last year's runner-up Simon Khan, fellow Englishmen Luke Donald and David Lynn and Dutchman Maarten Lafeber were the others on one under.

Ernie Els found rough left of the fairway at the first and bogeyed, but came back with a 10-foot birdie on the next.

Europe's current leading player Henrik Stenson also birdied there, but that followed a double bogey six. The Swede pulled his second, chipped nine feet past and three-putted.

Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen are among the afternoon starters.

Clarke suffered his hamstring string playing football with his sons Tyrone and Conor and on Sunday they witnessed him flipping over an off-road buggy in a field near their home.

He escaped from that with only a swollen hand which went down in time for him to tee off in the £3 million event.