The mechanisms of the world golf ranking would sometimes require Solomon's wisdom to figure out, as Darren Clarke would no doubt testify.
His hectic schedule of four tournaments in a five-week stretch in the United States finished last Sunday with a tied-11th place in the Heritage Classic and he has increased his plus-balance in the weighting system since the start of the year. Yet he finds himself locked into 15th position in the rankings.
Anyway, Clarke - who has split with J P Fitzgerald, his caddie of the past 15 months - has decided to take a two-week break from tournament play.
"I'm heading down to Spain to have a look at a possible course development down there," remarked Clarke, who already has two projects on the go, one in South Africa and the other in Moyvalley, north Co Kildare, adding: "and then I'll be using my season ticket at Liverpool on a rare occasion when Manchester United visit."
Clarke's next tournament outing will come at the British Masters at Forest of Arden on May 6th-9th, which marks the build-up to the season's second major, the US Open at Shinnecock Hills. For his first appearance on European soil this year, Clarke - who is third on the European Tour's order of merit and 13th on the US Tour money list - is expected to have veteran caddie Pete Coleman on his bag, a temporary measure while he assesses his future options.
It remains to be seen if the break-up of the Clarke-Fitzgerald partnership is temporary or proves to be permanent, but it came about after the caddie requested a meeting with the golfer early last week at Hilton Head, just days after Clarke had missed the cut at the US Masters.
Of Sunday's closing round at Hilton Head, when he was shown on television carrying his own bag up the 18th hole for a second successive day, Clarke explained there was nothing untoward in the act. "It was not the kind of send-off I had in mind for J P when we started our last round together before we take a break from each other for a while, and I certainly didn't envisage having to carry my own bag up 18 for the second day running. J P went ahead to discover if my ball was playable in the hazard.
"The crowd loved it, but I'm glad I'm a player and not a caddie . . . I came up short again with a seven-iron approach, which was inexplicable really, but that's the way things went in the tournament. I can't expect to contend and shoot four double-bogeys as I did over the four rounds. Every faux pas I made cost me plenty - it's amazing that I still managed to finish just outside the top 10.
"I tried on every shot and never gave up and that's the way it will be when I return to action after my fortnight off."
Padraig Harrington - fresh from his win in the Irish PGA at St Margaret's - has also decided to head for Spain for some warm-weather, which he hopes will aid recuperation from the neck strain that has irked him for over a week.
Harrington, still ranked eighth in the world, won't, however, reappear at the British Masters. Instead, the Dubliner will start globetrotting again, taking in the Macao Open in the Far East (the same week as the British Masters) before back-to-back defences of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai and the following week's Deutsche Bank TPC of Europe in Heidelberg.
Paul McGinley, who has undergone surgery for a troublesome knee injury, aims to make his competitive return at the TPC in Germany, which comes a week ahead of the Volvo PGA at Wentworth.
This week's European Tour event is the Spanish Open at the Fuerteventura Club in the Canaries, where Kenneth Ferrie - who beat Peter Lawrie and Peter Hedblom in a play-off last season - defends his title. The event marks Jose Maria Olazabal's first outing of the season in Europe as he seeks to win his national title for the first time.
Lawrie returns to a tournament that gave him the best finish of his rookie season a year ago but, unfortunately for him, it has moved from Tenerife to Fuerteventura. He will be joined in the field by fellow-Irishmen Graeme McDowell, Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane.
A quite different destination awaits other Irish tour professionals, with Justin Kehoe, Colm Moriarty, Stephen Browne and Michael Hoey - who was third in the Irish PGA - all competing in the El Sheikh Challenge at the Jolie Ville course in Egypt.
IRISH POSITIONS on Volvo European Tour Order of Merit - 3rd, D Clarke 453,251; 4th, P Harrington 400,254; 18th, P McGinley €200,118; 44th, G McDowell €100,745; 54th, P Lawrie €86,777; 67th, D McGrane €57,885; 102nd, G Murphy €38,531.
