Today's golf news

Clarke knuckles down

The marks on his right hand told the story. Bruised, swollen and with scabs forming over the injuries caused by his misadventures with an off-road buggy, Darren Clarke's hand was more like that of a bare-knuckle boxer than that of a professional golfer caressing a club to do his will.

On Wednesday evening, he had spent time getting ultrasound treatment on the hand, as well as making time to watch Liverpool's Champions League exploits on television. The treatment went well, the match not so well - at least from his perspective.

Yesterday, though, saw Clarke back in action after a horrible month when a hamstring pull caused him to withdraw from both the Wachovia championship after one round and The Players a third of the way through his opening round and not play at all in the Irish Open. So, how did it go?

"It was okay. I hit some decent shots, hit some poor shots - but it would have been nice to get around under par," said Clarke, who opened with a 72.

"I obviously would have liked to have shot better, but I'm being realistic about it. It wasn't too bad. I was a bit rusty, and my hand is just not 100 per cent yet," added Clarke, who took painkillers before his round.

"My hamstring is fine, so it is just my hand now. If it's not one thing it's another."

Clarke has been getting ultrasound and massage from Jonathan Shrewsbury and explained, "He's just trying to get the swelling down. I can feel it a bit when I'm holding a club, but it is not hindering me playing.

"It's niggling, so my grip is tender. I'll just keep playing, try to play 72 holes and see where I finish."

Casey's quadruple bogey

The full gamut of digits from two to nine got posted in yesterday's first round, Paul Casey having the dubious distinction of signing for a quadruple-bogey nine on the 12th.

"How do you make nine?" he asked himself afterwards. "The obvious answer would be you lip out for eight."

The real damage was actually done off the tee, Casey blocking his drive into trees. He compounded the situation with his attempted recovery, which clipped a tree and fell into the ditch. One shot followed another and, before he knew it, Casey was tapping in for a nine. In fairness, he regrouped and covered the next six holes in three under to sign for 73.

"I'm not out of the tournament. This tournament is 72 holes and that was just one," he remarked.

Sprinkler working

Fore! Anthony Wall couldn't believe his eyes when his seemingly good drive on the 12th hole took a sudden detour and finished up out of bounds. After hitting a second ball off the tee - his third shot - Wall trooped down the fairway to find the reason why the first drive had gone askew.

The reason? A sprinkler head. "The ball shot 40 feet up in the air," said Wall, who recorded a double-bogey seven on the hole.