Madrid Open: Darren Clarke left Madrid in his private jet yesterday, determined to see his putting take off in the Ryder Cup at The K Club.
The Ulsterman, who was making his first competitive appearance since his wife passed away last month, again blamed his putting after closing with a level par 72 in the Madrid Open.
The 38-year-old had four birdies and four bogeys in his final round to finish tied for 31st at La Moraleja II on seven under par - 15 shots behind runaway winner Ian Poulter.
Like his Ryder Cup team-mates Padraig Harrington and Jose Maria Olazabal, who finished fourth and eighth respectively, Clarke has work to do on his game ahead of the biggest sporting occasion in Irish history.
Frustrated with his putting again, Clarke said: "All this week I've taken as many as I possibly could. It has been a very frustrating week.
"I played all right and I am very pleased with the way I am hitting it. But as I said, I have just taken as many as I could all week, unfortunately."
The greens at The K Club will be far superior to the putting surfaces in Madrid and Clarke is looking forward to meeting up with his team-mates in London tomorrow before jetting into Dublin for the Ryder Cup.
He added: "We will have a different quality of greens next week and a different golf course, which will be nice.
"I am pleased with the way I am playing and I have played an awful lot better than my scores suggest. I am really excited about next week. I have been looking forward to it. Yes, I will be a leader in the team room but there are an awful lot of guys on that team who have a lot of experience as well.
"It's been said that the first fourballs will be important and that it's vital to get off to a good start. But to be honest, all the matches are important in the Ryder Cup these days."
Harrington topped the putting statistics in Madrid after carding a final round 69 that left him alone in fourth place on 15 under par.
But while the Dubliner was happy that he made two eagles and 23 birdies during what he confessed was a warm-up event in Madrid, he is looking forward to three days practice at The K Club.
Harrington said: "I am very happy. The last couple of weeks I have putted well. Today I was a bit more erratic off the tee but I am actually quite happy with things.
"I am hitting it strong. I am hitting it in the direction I want so I am looking forward to three good days' preparation.
"I probably made the most amount of birdies this week. I have had 23 birdies and two eagles so that is what you want to be doing. I am holing putts and making some birdies so hopefully I can keep that going for next week.
"I came here to look at my game under scrutiny, sharpen up the short game and see what needs to be worked on. My wedge play wasn't as good as I would have like it to have been but I don't know if there are that many wedges next week.
"I am looking forward to my three practice rounds. I have some mental side stuff I want to work on and three practice rounds is just ideal. Very rarely do we have the luxury of that."
Olazabal, who closed with a five-under-par 67 to share eighth place on 10 under par, hopes to team up with coach Butch Harmon at The K Club to work on his driving ahead of his first Ryder Cup appearance since 1999. "I scored okay but my driving is still erratic," said Olazabal. "I hit a few fairways but not solid enough. It was just a little battle to get it on the fairway. It has to be fluid.
"At The K Club you have to hit the driver long and straight if you want to have any chance. With all the rain they have had during this week, the golf course is going to play really, really long."
Poulter carded a three-under-par 69 to finish on 22-under-par 266 and earn a place in the WGC-American Express Championship and a cheque for more than £113,356.
Spain's Ignacio Garrido finished second on 17 under par after a closing 66 with Welshman Phillip Price one stroke further back in third place after a 67.
Poulter's seventh European Tour victory helped him jump from 22nd to 14th in the European Tour Order of Merit, earning him his place in the final World Golf Championship event of the season.
His latest victory came too late to help him make the Ryder Cup side, but Poulter still declared "mission accomplished" in Madrid.
"It's always the way isn't it? The putts went in a couple of weeks too late - c'est la vie," said Poulter, who went 66 holes without making a bogey. "I didn't get frustrated once but when you roll the putts in you don't get frustrated.
"I wasn't anticipating playing this week but things pan out as they do and I entered a couple of weeks ago and I came here and got my head down.
"I said to Mick, my caddie, that we had a job to do this week and that was to get back into the top 50 of the world rankings, win the golf tournament and get into the Amex in a couple of weeks time."
Leading by four strokes overnight, Poulter's first bogey of the week came at the par-three 13th and while he bounced back with birdies at the 15th and 16th, he dropped another shot at the short 17th to close with a 69.
The Milton Keynes player was disappointed not to retain his place in the Ryder Cup side, having played a vital role in Europe's record victory at Oakland Hills two years ago.
He added: "I don't think it will soften the blow. This has been a nice week and I am very happy to move up the world rankings but I am still disappointed about next week and I just hope the guys get their heads down and do a great job for us all.
"I came here to do the job and it's good to come and do it."
He added: "While the guys are at the Ryder Cup grinding it out I'll just be hitting a few balls on the range and relaxing. "If I am sitting in doors, which I don't think I'll be doing all day because that is just a waste of time for me to be doing that."
