Darren Clarke heads for Madrid this week for the start of a four-tournament run which he hopes will secure him the Order of Merit title. And while he greatly admires the astonishing record of Colin Montgomerie, Clarke views his friend Lee Westwood as the main rival for a coveted crown.

In the context of the Tyroneman's aspirations, the prize money in the Euro 1,000,000 Turespana Masters, which starts at Club de Campo on Thursday, is curiously of secondary importance. "I need the competition," he said, having made his last European Tour appearance in the Belgacom Open in which he missed the cut on September 22nd.

"It is fairly obvious that the Order of Merit is going to be decided by the Volvo Masters and the American Express at Valderrama. So, even if I were to win in the meantime, it wouldn't secure anything. But I want to be playing well by the time I arrive in Montecastillo," said Clarke.

After Belgium, Clarke beat Nick Faldo in the opening round of the Cisco World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth on October 5th, but lost to Vijay Singh the following day. He withdrew from last weekend's Alfred Dunhill Cup so as to be with his wife and their new-born son, Conor.

"I believe u400,000 ££400,000 (sterling) could do it," he said, referring to his target for an award which Montgomerie has captured for the last seven years. In the event, Clarke will be attempting to emulate the achievement of another Ulsterman, Ronan Rafferty, who was Order of Merit winner in 1989.

"If I reach that target, Lee would have to play really well to beat me, like finishing twice in the top three. And while Monty can never be counted out, my intention would be to put the title beyond his reach." Going into this week's event in which, incidentally, Westwood is not competing, Clarke in second in the Order of Merit with u1,339,289 £.£1,339,289. Westwood heads the table with u1,409,222; £1,409,222. Ernie Els is third with u1,199,360; £1,199,360. Thomas Bjorn and Michael Campbell are fourth and fifth and Montgomerie is sixth with u971,508 £971,508.

Prize money in the Volvo Masters from November 2nd to 5th is £2 u2 million with u £330,000 for the winner and a week later, the $5 million American Express Championship offers a top prize of about £675,000. u675,000. So, were a player to win both events, he would come away with more than Stg£1 million.

Meanwhile, this week's Turespana Masters and next week's Italian Open (at Is Molas, Sardinia), will have a crucial bearing on the status of three Irish tournament players. Des Smyth, currently 113th in the table with £74,604 and Eamonn Darcy (£33,767 for 155th) are playing in both.

Shorter evenings and a surprisingly large turnout by exempt players, however, mean that Gary Murphy (£52,096 for 137th) gets into this week's field only. So, if the Kilkenny player, who came through the Qualifying School last November, is to retain his card, he will need to do it this week.

Allowing for the presence of two affiliate members in the Order of Merit, the cut off point will come at 117th. And the indications are that it will be necessary to amass at least £80,000 to be secure.

Smyth should be fine and Darcy takes the view that he is unlikely to experience any difficulty in receiving sponsors' invitations next year, if necessary. But Murphy's position is far more precarious, not least for the fact that he is effectively setting out on a tournament career, as opposed to the other two, who are simply biding their time before an entry into senior ranks.

Incidentally, Padraig Harrington will also be in action at Club de Campo, where he made his European Tour breakthrough in the 1996 Spanish Open. Paul McGinley completes the Irish line-up.

The ending of the Alfred Dunhill Cup will be viewed with a mixture of sadness and pride by the nine Irishmen who played in it over the years. They were: Smyth, Darcy, Rafferty, David Feherty, Philip Walton, Clarke, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Harrington and McGinley.

Smyth was especially pleased to have finished with a win against the Frenchman Jean-Francois Remesy last Saturday - and with good reason. It meant that out of 12 matches played in five appearances in the event, he emerged with the admirable record of having won eight, lost three and halved one. Equally impressive is that he put together a stroke average of 70.08 for the Old Course at St Andrews, over a period spanning 15 years. During that time, Smyth's worst score was a 74 in the opening round in 1987 - and he actually won that match against another Frenchman, Emmanuel Dussart, who shot 76. In his other 11 matches, he scored par or better.

For the official stroke-average list, however, it is deemed necessary to have won 10 matches. And there, Nick Faldo reigns supreme, with a stroke-average of 69.61 from 18 matches of which he won 13. Of course one of his five defeats was against Smyth in the semi-finals of 1988.

Officially, the best stroke-average by an Irishman is 70.89 by Clarke from 19 matches of which he won 12. Next comes Rafferty with 70.90 from 30 while McGinley has 72.64 from 22. Harrington, who came into the team only in 1996, has a stroke-average of 71 from 15 matches, which is not at all bad for a player who professes not be to able to putt on the flat St Andrews greens.

Taking an overall view, the most matches played in the history of the Dunhill Cup was by Els with 36 in nine appearances. He won 26 of those and produced a strokeaverage of 70.5.