DARREN CLARKE headed yesterday from Hawaii to Sydney, where he and Irish colleague Paul McGinley will compete on Thursday in the Australian PGA Championship. In facing the long journey, Clarke was clearly buoyed by a sparkling final round of 67 which earned him a share of 19th place in the Kapalua International last Sunday.
Indeed the Ulsterman had reason to be pleased with much of the Hawaii experience, given that he started with a 67 and had a third round of 69 on Saturday. His challenge was effectively scuppered by a miserable second round of 78, but the overall effort earned him $13,250 and the distinction of finishing on the same score as the defending champion, Jim Furyk.
David Feherty also competed in the event, having only his third US outing of the season. With rounds of 76, 70, 71 and 72 for a share of 43rd place, he was rewarded with a cheque for $9,087.
Victory went to Paul Stankowski, who had gained a surprise breakthrough on the USPGA Tour with a play off victory in the BellSouth Classic last April. With a two putt birdie on the long 18th for a final round of 68 and a 21 under par aggregate of 269, Stankowski beat Fred Couples by a stroke and collected top prize of $216,000.
In the process, he showed himself to have admirable competitive instincts while resisting formidable pressure from some of the game's leading players, including US Open champion Steve Jones and the world number nine, Davis Love, who shared third place.
Jones's impressive form is particularly interesting, given that he has been selected with British Open champion Tom Lehman to represent the US in the forthcoming World Cup. They will form quite a contrasting partnership to Couples and Love who achieved total domination of the event for the US over the last four years, with victories in Madrid, Florida, Puerto Rico and China.
Meanwhile, the weekend's activities mean that three Irishmen are in the top 100 in the Sony World Rankings - Clarke in 60th place, McGinley 84th and Padraig Harrington 95th. But the most dramatic improvement was achieved by England's Lee Westwood, who beat American Jeff Sluman and Italy's Costantino Rocca to capture the Taiheiyo Masters in Japan on Sunday.
Westwood (23), has been the most successful English player in Europe this season, finishing sixth in the Order of Merit. And his international status has now been enhanced by elevation to 64th in the ranking list.
Interestingly, he failed to gain selection on England's team for the World Cup which takes place at the Erinvale GC, Cape Town, on November 21st to 24th. Their duo, chosen after the British Open, are Italian Open champion Jim Payne and Barry Lane, winner of the inaugural Andersen Consulting world championship.
Ireland will be represented by Clarke and Harrington. While McGinley, who has been on holiday with his brother Michael in Los Angeles for the past week, remains down under for the Australian Open, Clarke will be heading from Sydney to Cape Town next Monday. Harrington, on the other hand, is using this as a free week to get in some work with his coach Howard Bennett.
