On a bad news/good news day for Darren Clarke here at Montecastillo, the Tyroneman lost to Pierre Fulke in the Volvo Masters but swept to the top of the European Order of Merit through substantial second-place prize money of £222,220 sterling. So he heads for the $5 million American Express Tournament at Valderrama later this week with a lead of £62,519 over Lee Westwood.
But with the winner's cheque next Sunday converting to more than £650,000, the race for the Order of Merit title covers the top five players, including Ernie Els, Thomas Bjorn and Michael Campbell. Colin Montgomerie, who has held it for the last seven years, has been forced to admit defeat, though he recovered admirably to finish ninth on his own yesterday.
Clarke, the 1998 champion, had his heart set on becoming the first player to win the Volvo Masters twice. But Fulke was too good for him when an absorbing duel was decided ultimately by the 16th and 17th holes, which the Swede covered in eagle, par to Clarke's birdie, bogey.
"He surprised me," Clarke admitted. "To be honest, I expected signs of tension, but Pierre played really great down the stretch. They are not the easiest holes on which to establish and protect a lead, but to his credit, he got the job done."
The Tyroneman, who was joint leader with Fulke overnight, added: "I can't say I'm badly disappointed by the outcome. On the first tee, I would have thought a final round of 68 would be good enough. As Pierre proved with a 67, it wasn't. But I made only one bad swing throughout, and that was on the 17th tee. And obviously it cost me.
"Naturally I'm delighted to be leading the Order of Merit, but I always knew it was going to go down to the wire, whatever happened today."
The 29-year-old Swede was playing only his 15th tournament of the season because of a serious wrist injury which kept him out of action until June.
"I wanted to win this tournament really badly, but don't know why I'm playing so good," he said. "After my comeback from the injury, I barely do any practice. But I hope the magic stays.
"The five-wood second shot I hit to the 16th (to set up an eagle three), and my drive at the next, were two of the best shots of my life. By that stage Darren and I were in a matchplay situation and I was really proud of the way I split the fairway on the 17th."
By lifting top prize of £333,330, Fulke moved to 12th position in the Order of Merit, so claiming a place in this week's event at Valderrama. Ironically, he displaces another Swede, Per Ulrik Johansson. Ireland will have three players in action: Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.
Meanwhile, the indications are that a number of leading Americans will be giving the cold shoulder to the final World Golf Championship event of the season. Up to last night, no entries had been received from David Duval, Hal Sutton, Tom Lehman, Jim Furyk, Fred Couples, Stewart Cink, John Huston, Loren Roberts, Paul Azinger and Notah Begay. But Tiger Woods will be there.
Montgomerie expressed bewilderment at this extraordinary turn of events. "We don't know for sure until they have actually withdrawn, but it shows the strength of the US Tour," he said. "The last place money in their Tour Championship is $150,000, while the last place at Valderrama is $25,000. And obviously some of them don't want to travel for that."
Europe's leading player went on: "They are playing for such big money in the US that this is just another tournament week for them, even with a first prize of $1 million. Obviously money doesn't matter any more.
"In truth, I don't have the answer. That's for the executives of the tours to decide."
For his part, Montgomerie has still deferred a decision until late December on whether he will compete in the Andersen Consulting Matchplay in Australia in the New Year.
