Play has finally restarted in the Spanish Open first round after a mopping up operation at the Centro Nacional course following heavy morning rain.
Only one hour's play has been possible so far and only a quarter of the field of 152 have started the opening round, which will run into tomorrow afternoon - providing there are no further delays.
After the opening few holes in the morning, four players had shared the lead on one-under-par - Ireland's David Higgins, Japan's Taichi Teshima alond with Scots Sandy Lyle and Paul Lawrie.
Darren Clarke, who starts a five-week run of tournaments in a bid to boost his world ranking, is the best-known name in the field even though he has dropped down to 69th in the world. He has yet to start his round.
"The reasons are obvious, but I didn't think it would take as long as this to get back to a normal life," said Clarke of his slide down the rankings after such a difficult 2006 when he lost his wife Heather to cancer last year. "I've got to be patient and I am sure the game will turn around."
In seven starts so far this season he has missed four halfway cuts, was knocked out in the first round of the Accenture world match play and has finished 20th and 27th in the other two.
The five-week schedule takes Clarke to the Wachovia and Players Championships in America, then the Irish Open at Adare Manor in Limerick and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Clarke, armed with a tip from his former coach Pete Cowen, is in very determined mood: "I've not done five in a row for a very long time," he told reporters at the Centro Nacional course yesterday. "I've been working with Lead (coach David Leadbetter) a little bit and I got a tip from Pete on the range so I'm very hopeful about this week."
Spain's top two, Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal, are notable absentees from their national championship and the country's new star Pablo Martin - whose victory in the Portuguese Open on April 1st was the first by an amateur since the formation of the European Tour - is back at college in Oklahoma and yet to turn professional.
Clarke is one of eight Irish players in action in the Spanish Open where he is joined by Paul McGinley, the in-form Graeme McDowell, who has back-to-back top-10 finishes in China this past two weeks, Damien McGrane, Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, David Higgins and Irish Amateur champion Rory McIlroy.
