GOLF/Irish Open Championship: The cliché is well worn but, in this case, apt. For Darren Clarke, it was a case of so close, and yet so far.

If, for so long, it seemed a combination of fate and sublime play was guiding him yesterday to victory in the elongated conclusion to the Nissan Irish Open at Carton House, the 37-year-old was ultimately stymied on two fronts: one, by his disappointing, bogey-par-bogey finish; but, also, by a quality birdie-birdie close-out by champion Thomas Bjorn.

True, Clarke lost the tournament, one he badly wanted to win, finishing alone in third, on three-under 285, two shots behind the Dane and a shot adrift of England's Paul Casey. Bjorn finished with a level-par 72 for 283, five-under.

(And just to emphasise the bond that exists between Bjorn and Clarke, the Dane flew him home to London, where they'll renew rivalry in the BMW Championship at Wentworth starting on Thursday.)

But, even in defeat, Clarke, for whom golf these days is a refuge from life's greater complexities, could walk away from another close call in the Irish Open with his integrity not only intact, but enhanced.

It concerned the situation he found himself in shortly before 9.15am yesterday morning when he walked to his ball in the heavy rough to the right of the ninth fairway. When he got there, he found the ball's lie to be considerably improved from when he had left it on Sunday when play was suspended due to a waterlogged course.

Yesterday, instead of being surrounded by thick grass, as it was when he'd left it, the ball was sitting nicely, and Clarke reckoned he could have reached the front of the green with a seven-iron.

The player wasn't happy, and he alerted tournament referee Mikael Eriksson of the change to his lie.

"All of the ball was there and there wasn't much grass around it," he said. "The ruling was to play the ball as it lies. I hadn't broken any rules or done anything wrong, but I couldn't let myself do it. My conscience wouldn't allow me to do that.

"I'd have held my head in shame walking all the way up to the green, so I decided to chip it out (to the fairway) and play it as I would have done yesterday."

His behaviour was endorsed and appreciated by his fellow professionals.

"Any player would be very proud if they were in that situation and took that action," remarked Padraig Harrington, who finished in tied-11th after a closing 74.

And winner Bjorn, who beforehand had offered Clarke a lift home on his plane, said of the incident:

"Darren's as good a sportsman as they come. He puts a lot of pride in putting the game above everything else, and what he did on the ninth just shows his character and his belief in the game. The game of golf is much, much bigger than any person.

"We play under rules and we have to play by those rules ourselves. We have to set an example to amateur golfers around the world about how this game is played, and Darren is a great example of how a professional sportsman should treat the sport."

Unfortunately for Clarke, the win that he so desperately wanted eluded his clutches. As on Sunday, when heavy rain forced play to be suspended and extended into an unscheduled fifth day, the Ulsterman showed a great deal of patience in his play. On Sunday, his manager, Chubby Chandler, had sent him a text message preaching: "Patience . . . patience . . . patience . . . f***ing patience." And yesterday morning Chandler delivered the same message to him in person.

For much of the morning, it seemed to have the desired effect. Even when the birdie putts failed to drop. Clarke remained patient.

Even when he bogeyed the 16th, where he failed to get up-and-down after missing the green with his approach, he stayed patient.

Standing on the 18th tee, he was still in a share of the lead (on four-under with Casey in the match behind, but shortly to be joined by Bjorn), and knowing that destiny was in his hands.

Clarke's drive down the par five 18th was superb, and left him with a three-wood approach to the green.

On playing the fairway wood, though, he "moved ahead" of it, which resulted in the ball coming up short of the green. But it didn't seem to be a big error.

What happened next, however, proved punishing to his quest to win.

"I tried to play a sandwedge off the back of my stance, to chase it all the way up the green," explained Clarke. But he caught it heavy, and then compounded the error by three-putting from 40 feet for a finishing bogey.

Harrington, who had come up short in his bid to win the title, re-emerged from the recorder's cabin and went to the back of the 18th green to see Clarke's closing efforts and was as disappointed as the galleries who had trudged around the course in the hope of a first Irish winner since John O'Leary in 1982.

"I feel for Darren, of course I do . . . the whole idea is to get yourself in contention and put yourself out there (to win). But when it doesn't work out, it is not a nice experience.

"Darren will obviously take confidence in the fact that it is a lot better to have been there (contending) than the 60 or 70 players who all made the cut but who are saying, 'if only'. It's tough, because he was there."

Even Bjorn admitted his thoughts at times had wandered to the possibilities of a Clarke win.

"There's no person in the world I would like winning at the moment than Darren.

"We have a great relationship and I have the utmost respect for him as a person and all of his family.

"You know, it's not the easiest of times (for them). I go to bed every night praying for him and his family."

All of which would seem to give the lie to the theory that professional golf is a selfish, tough-nosed sport.