Darren Clarke expressed
his disappointment at not making the field for The Cisco world Matchplay
Championship being held in Wentworth from October 14th through 17th. Clarke
is determined to be the leading Irishman on the European Tour yet again
this season.
Clarke was expected
to make the field following Lee Westwood's decision to opt out but the
spot went instead to compatriot and European Ryder Cup team-mate, Padraig
Harrington. While Clarke was at pains to point out that Harrington fully
deserved the invite given his recent performances at Brookline and on the
Volvo Tour, he was somewhat surprised at the inclusion of one or two of
the lesser known invitee, such as Australian Craig Parry and American Notah
Begay.
Harrington, striking
a rich vein of form over the last couple of months, lies currently 6th
in the Volvo Order of Merit, one place ahead of Clarke with only $52,000
between them. Together with his sudden-death defeat by Garcia in the German
Masters, Harrington has now finished runner-up four times this season,
including the Italian Open, West of Ireland Classic and the BMW International,
which got him onto the Ryder team. He has also finished fourth in both
the Malaysian Open and Turespana Masters and sixth in the German Open.
Harrington has one tour win to date, the 1996 Spanish Open, won in his
rookie year.
Clarke, for his part,
has had an up and down season. Poor early form was rejuvenated by an impressive
win in the Compass Group English. He followed that by producing arguably
the greatest round in European Tour history when he equaled the record
low round of 60 in the Smurfit European Open at the K Club, host venue
of the 2005 Ryder Cup Matches. His 12 birdies equaled the record birdies
in a round and he also equaled the record of eight consecutive birdies.
He followed that round with a hole in one the following day and looked
destined to become the first Irishman to win on home soil until his close
friend and management stablemate Lee Westwood surged strongly to pip him
at the post.
At Brookline, Clarke
had a 2-3-0 record but did not play to his true potential. In 1998, he
strongly contested the Order of Merit with Colin Montgomery, winning the
Volvo Masters in Spain, but it proved insufficient to wrest the title away
from the mercurial Scot who won it for a record sixth successive year.
To signify his determination to remain Ireland's premier golfer in 1999,
Clarke will instead play in the Smurfit Irish Professional Championships
at the excellent Island course in north Dublin next week and will also
add an additional fixture to his year-end schedule, the Belgacom Open,
the following week.
As for the Cisco Matchplay
tourney, Harrington is a noted matchplayer with three Walker Cup appearances
under his belt, a great singles victory over Mark O'Meara in Brookline,
as well as success in the World Cup with Paul McGinley at Kiawah Island
in 1997. Sure, he will have stiff competition particularly in the form
of Colin Montgomery, defending champ and a vengeful Mark O'Meara, Nick
Price, Jose Maria Olazabal and Ernie Els, not forgetting the stars of 1999
in America and Europe respectively, Carlos Santos and Sergio Garcia. But,
coupled with good old Irish luck, as outside bets go, you could do a lot
worse than putting a little wager on Harrington next weekend.
Full Cisco Matchplay
Line-Up:
Mark O'Meara (USA),
Colin Montgomerie (Sco), Ernie Els (Rsa), Nick Price (Zim), Sergio Garcia
(Spa), Carlos Franco (Par), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa), Craig Parry (Aus),
Paul Lawrie (Sco), Retief Goosen (Bel), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Notah
Begay III (USA).
The draw for the Championship
will take place at Wentworth on Tuesday October 12, at 11 a.m.
