While Darren Clarke heads for a premier assignment in the US, Paul McGinley will be attempting to capitalise on rich, current form by competing in the £670,000 Qatar Masters, starting on Thursday. After that, the Dubliner will return to Sunningdale to be with his wife, Allison, for the birth of their first child.

Clarke will be Ireland's lone representative in the inaugural WGC Andersen Consulting Matchplay Championship at La Costa on February 24th to 28th. If the 64-man field remains as it is, he will play Andrew Magee in the first round, but changes are anticipated before the draw next Monday.

That would be a pity in the case of one, rather special pairing. As things stand, world number one Tiger Woods, who returned to winning form by taking the Buick Invitational last Sunday, would face a first round tie with Nick Faldo, who placed the Masters green jacket on his back in April 1997.

Despite poor form in Dubai, Faldo has miraculously held on to 65th position in the world rankings, making him first reserve for the £3 million event. But since 14th-ranked Jumbo Ozaki has indicated he will not be playing, the Englishman is certain to go into the draw.

All of which will be a source of envy for players such as McGinley, who are outside the fold. A share of third place at Dubai Creek after a sparkling final round of 67 last Sunday has moved the Dubliner from 147th to 123rd in the rankings. But he is acutely aware of still having some way to go.

"My target is to get into the top-50," he said yesterday. "I realise that people will point to the Ryder Cup, but my attitude is that if I succeed with my ranking target, a place at Brookline would be automatically secured."

McGinley went on: "Though I have won twice in Europe (the 1996 Austrian Open and 1997 Oki Pro-Am), last weekend's performance was my best, in terms of the quality of the field. And it couldn't have come at a better time. After working really hard through the winter, I was beginning to get a little frustrated at my lack of success."

Between December and January, McGinley spent a total of almost five full days with his coach, Pete Cowen, on the practice ground at Sunningdale GC. Though the player doesn't point to any dramatic swing changes, observers have noticed a definite modification in his follow-through.

"I like to think that I'm more mature and mentally stronger," said the Dubliner, who plans to take a month off the tour when he returns home from Qatar. The other Irish challengers there will be Philip Walton, Padraig Harrington, Eamonn Darcy and Des Smyth.

Meanwhile, the benefit of having quality players feeding off each other's talent was reflected in the victory of David Howell in Dubai. Clarke, McGinley and Howell are in the same management group - International Sports Management (ISM) - with Lee Westwood and Andrew Coltart, among others. And a book given to him by Clarke, who used it to great effect prior to last April's US Masters, appears to have been the springboard for Howell to start achieving his goals.

"The book is titled Golf Is Not A Game Of Perfect, and it's by Bob Rotella, quite a famous shrink, for want of a better word," said Howell. "I've read it and just tried to put in place some of the things it says, concentrating on the present."

The former British Boys' champion and Walker Cup representative also shares coach Cowen with McGinley and Westwood. "Pete Cowen has given David more consistency, which is what I was trying to achieve during those winter days on the practice ground," said McGinley.

Meanwhile, the return to winning form by Woods has brought his career victories to seven, edging him closer to his leading US rival, David Duval, who has nine to his credit. With $7,726,353 in career earnings, however, Duval has a more emphatic cash lead over Woods with $4,798,444.

A seven-under-par final round of 65 by Woods at La Jolla was enough to overcome the charge of Billy Ray Brown, who shot 66. "After 13, Billy Ray and I had a match going - it was one-on-one," said Woods. "He seemed to counter everything I did."

Whether Woods and Faldo have a match going at La Costa, remains to be seen: it will depend on the physical wellbeing of Tom Lehman, who is doubtful at this stage. Either way, Faldo has produced an interesting response.

In a change of plan yesterday, the former world number one decided against playing in Qatar, which he was expected to do having missed the cut in Dubai last Friday. Instead, Faldo returned to London where he set about finalising plans for a possible tangle with the Tiger.

Woods warned on Sunday: "My game is coming together at exactly the right time for the world championship," But it is not in Faldo's nature to be concerned by such utterings.