Darren Clarke: Darren Clarke once brought The K Club to its knees and the crowd to its feet when he shot a then course record 60 in the 1999 European Open.

For his efforts the course was Clarke-proofed with trees, bunkering and length. This week his first step on to the tee box, his first swing of the club will do more. This week, if picked, the sight of Clarke's ruddy face and burning eyes will be one of the emotional spikes of the opening day of this year's Ryder Cup.

"There are going to be a few difficult moments," he said understatedly yesterday.

His journey over the last 36 days since the death of his wife, Heather, has poignantly brought him home.

Clarke has tried to draw a line under the constant questions about what emotions the Ryder Cup may draw up. But not yet has he been left to shoulder it in private. Yesterday's conversations with the Dungannon man again rounded on his ongoing accommodation of death and how he fits his golf into that world. To Clarke's credit, his thoughts on a rites of passage that arrived so catastrophically early in his life are as articulate as those about his talent to hit the golf ball.

"When it comes to the first tee, it won't be any more difficult than it normally is because that's back to the golfing side of things. That's what I do," he said with conviction and perhaps a little hope.

But even seasoned professionals turn alabaster on the first tee and freighted with his history and the more patriotic nature of the Ryder Cup crowd, Clarke has already struck a blow in this strangely intense meeting. Tiger Woods lost his father some months ago, while Chris DiMarco's mother also passed away during the summer. Perhaps for those reasons there has been a fraternal respect emanating from both camps and a sense of perspective.

For Clarke too, some positives.

"It's been good getting closer to my boys (Tyrone 8, Connor 5)," he said. "It's my boys that make me tick. I'm a very different man to the one I was seven or eight weeks ago. I've had to look after them a bit more than what I've normally done.

"It's been a difficult thing. Heather suffered for four years and it was very difficult to watch that. But since she's passed away I've been happy with my relationship with my kids. If there is any positive, that would be it."

Clarke's mood, though, was jovial and his intensity undiminished. His fear was to bottom out in Madrid and arrive in Dublin as a frayed captain's pick, searching for a game that was far out of reach.

"I have my moments, but overall I'm comfortable with what I'm doing," he says. "I did think long and hard about whether I should be here. I came to the conclusion that I would help the team and benefit the team. I want to play. I want to compete. I want to help my team-mates. I was desperate to be here, to play golf this week."

The matchplay format allows Clarke's ability to thrive, while the kindness of the course in the past will have left sweet memories.

"It's a much more difficult course now. It was probably two or three shots easier," he says with caution.

Passionately part of it, he is sensibly staking no great claims.