Clarke takes opening honours with 66

Darren Clarke reaped the benefit of a new diet and fitness programme as he shot a sparkling 66 to lead the Volvo PGA Championship by one stroke after Thursday's opening round at Wentworth.

The Northern Irishman has never subscribed to the Tiger Woods approach which involves as much effort in the gym as on the course and consequently he has developed a somewhat rounded swing to complement a well-padded physique.

He now says he has seen the error of his ways and he was celebrating with nothing stronger than a mineral water after a trim first round.

Leading the chase behind the man from Dungannon were Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee and James Kingston of South Africa, who were both playing the West Course for the first time, plus Scot Alastair Forsyth.

Clarke told a news conference after a round of four birdies and an eagle that he always thought fitness regimes were for men less blessed in natural strength and talent but a stalled attempt to win this year's U.S. Masters after leading made him think again.

"I felt pretty tired there," he conceded. "It wasn't as if I was going to collapse because physically I am pretty strong but it led to making mental mistakes.

"I haven't said it (fitness regime) was wrong for other people to do. I just didn't feel it was the right thing for me to do. But with me trying to identify reasons why I have not been playing as well as I should be it's pretty logical to take a look at it."

Consequently, Clarke, who at 34 has been good enough to win well over six million pounds ($9.81 million) in prize money while overweight and a confirmed cigar smoker, has hired fitness guru Barry Grinham.

Grinham, who has worked chiefly with Formula One drivers, has advised Clarke mainly in terms of diet so far -- the player says the real sweat in the gym is to come -- and persuaded him to go round chomping power bars for extra energy.

"They may look like jelly babies but I've got to eat 'em," said Clarke. "I've still got the cigars in the bag."

Clarke's effort stood out on a dank, chilly day where below par scores were relatively few and far between. That made the 67s recorded by Jaidee and Kingston all the more commendable as neither had seen the course except on television.

There was no such luck for Seve Ballesteros, the five-times major winner, who was fined and reprimanded on the eve of the tournament for past clashes with officialdom.

He pulled out on Thursday with a bad cold although he may have been cheered somewhat that the man who chaired the disciplinary hearing, Mark James, ran up a quintruple-bogey 10 on the long fourth where he took six putts and eventually finished with an 11-over-par 83.

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