The different early season fortunes of Darren Clarke and his Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood could not have been more pronounced than during the final round of the £140,000 championship yesterday. While the talented young Englishman went on to claim the title in a play-off on the second extra hole, Clarke was ruing a two-shot penalty for arriving late on the first tee.

The Irishman, who started the day on 217 five-over-par, was immediately plunged into turmoil as he was penalised by the tournament referee for reporting late for his 9.40 tee time. Clarke's excuse was that he "slept in".

There is a lackadaisical air to Clarke's demeanour at the moment which suggests his slump in form is not hurting badly enough, but to see his good friend Westwood flying high must rankle. Meanwhile other Irish hopefuls Richard Coughlan and Bryan O'Melia fared less well, posting final round scores of 79 and 80 respectively to finish well down the leaderboard.