If the slide down the world rankings has been somewhat understandable, given his personal circumstances, it is one that Darren Clarke badly wants to arrest now that he can concentrate more on his golf game. The Ulsterman is 52nd in the rankings, but heads to this week's Singapore Masters intent on starting an upward graph to secure starting places in more important tournaments.
"I need to get back into the world's top 50, that's my number one sporting priority just now. My aim is to pick up as many points as I can in Singapore," remarked Clarke, conscious that one of two cut-off points from the world rankings for the CA Championship in Doral later this month comes next Monday, when the top-50 off the world rankings will be invited. The final cut-off point for the top 50 comes on Monday week, March 19th.
Clarke is currently precariously placed just outside that magical mark, hence the increased importance of a decent performance in Singapore where he is part of a strong representation from his ISM stable that also includes Lee Westwood and David Howell.
The CA Championship, which has replaced the American Express Championship in the WGC series of tournaments, has strict eligibility criteria (with the field expected to comprise 70 players, based off the world rankings and the Order of Merits on the various affiliated tours) and it is a sign of Clarke's slip in the rankings that he is currently not in the field.
Clarke's slide can be attributed to the curtailed playing schedule that he undertook last season, when his wife Heather passed away. This season, he has played four counting tournaments on the European Tour Order of Merit but, as yet, he hasn't fired on all cylinders and currently lies 79th in the money list with a best finish of tied-20th in the Dubai Desert Classic.
A glance at Clarke's world ranking at this time of the year since 2001 confirms how much he has dropped in the listings: in 2001, he was 11th; in 2002, he was 14th; in 2003, he was 24th; in 2004 he was 13th; in 2005, he was 16th, and this time last year he was 27th.
Others, though, have fared much worse. Back in March of 2001 when Clarke was 11th, one of those players ranked above him was David Duval. These days, Duval is languishing in 356th place in the world rankings.
While Clarke has slipped out of the world's top 50, his place in the US Masters field is safe. One cut-off for the Masters came at the end of 2006, at which stage Clarke was still comfortably inside the mark and, so, received his invite.
Padraig Harrington will be the only other Irish player in the field for the season's first major and, following his tied-13th place finish in the Honda Classic, the Dubliner has a fortnight off before resuming competition in the CA Championship, which will start a three-week stint in the States leading up to the Masters.
Clarke is joined in the field for Singapore this week by Damien McGrane, who continued his streak of making cuts in Malaysia last week. It was the seventh cut that the Meathman has made in seven outings on tour this season, his last missed cut coming in the Mallorca Classic last October.
Peter Lawrie is the third Irish player competing in Singapore. Graeme McDowell has withdrawn from the tournament in Singapore to avoid early-season burnout. Paul McGinley is due to resume tournament play at next week's TCL Classic.
Queen's University, Belfast, yesterday announced it will award an honorary degree to Darren Clarke for his services to professional golf.
World Rankings
1 Tiger Woods(US) 19.19 pts ave
2 Jim Furyk(US) 8.53
3 Phil Mickelson(US) 7.63
4 Adam Scott(Aus) 6.89
5 Henrik Stenson(Swe) 6.65
6 Ernie Els(Rsa) 6.61
7 Geoff Ogilvy(Aus) 5.77
8 Retief Goosen(Rsa) 5.69
9 Vijay Singh(Fij) 5.38
10 Luke Donald(Eng) 5.25
Other Irish: 11 P Harrington5.20, 52 D Clarke2.21, 89 P McGinley1.56.
European order of merit
1 Henrik Stenson(Swe) €1,473,950
2 Retief Goosen(Rsa) €756,553
3 Yong-eun Yang(Kor) €686,332
4 Paul Casey €606,884
5 Ernie Els(Rsa) €575,554
6 Trevor Immelman(Rsa) €552,695
7 Nick O'Hern(Aus) €458,457
8 Anton Haig(Rsa) €380,989
9 Justin Rose€368,267
10 Michael Campbell(Nzl) €315,031
Other Irish: 14 P Harrington€241,965; 50 G McDowell€96,403; 61 D McGrane€78,922; 79 D Clarke€60,353; 11 P McGinley€40,894; 131 P Lawrie€28,293; 180 G Murphy€12,487.
