THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Tiger Woods seals two shot victory Round 4: Emotional Tiger Woods thanks late father Round 4: Players give Hoylake top marks Round 4: Ernie Els continues impressive Open run Round 4: Marius Thorp wins Silver Medal Round 4: Sergio Garcia takes positives from Open Round 4: Chris DiMarco consoled by second place Round 4: Tiger Woods edges ahead of field Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Ernie Els happy to still be in the mix Round 3: Putting problems keep Woods back Round 3: Chris DiMarco counts on experience Round 2: Woods and Els set for showdown Round 2: Singh & Monty amongst cut casualties Round 2: Ernie Els relishes being in contention Round 2: David Duval frustrated again Round 2: Phil Mickelson well off the pace Round 2: Poor showing by Ryder Cup hopefuls Round 1: Woods makes move with eagle on 18th Round 1: Clarke to take break to care for wife Round 1: Seve Ballesteros happy with opening 74 Round 1: Ernie Els finds putting touch again Round 1: Garcia amongst early front runners Leading contenders for the British Open Tiger Woods ready for Open defence Geoff Ogilvy enjoying life as a champion Weather set fair at Hoylake Phil Mickelson in confident mood Tiger Woods & Nick Faldo fued simmers Trevor Immelman pulls out of Open Players expecting to score low at Hoylake Ben Curtis has sights on second Open title Montgomerie still optimistic about breaking duck Rest of the World catching the Americans Hoylake ready for a new chapter Europeans seeking a Major turnaround Trevor Immelman celebrates birth of first child Tiger Woods is bookmakers favourite Hot, dry and fast Hoylake awaits players Nick Faldo & Tiger Woods row diffused Hoylake a mystery to the whole field John Daly plays "The Cavern" Retief Goosen not confident heading into Open John Senden joins record number of Australians Woods starts Open defence with Faldo The Open Preview Course Guide: Hoylake - Royal Liverpool 2006 European Tour Schedule GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Greg Norman struggles at Troon Ochoa leads with flawless 65 Mike Weir amongst leaders Four share lead in Russia Padraig Harrington hungry for more success Michelle Wie to play on PGA Tour again GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers InstructaCard - your portable pro! The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Golf Insurance

Darren Clarke to take break to care for wife

Darren Clarke will temporarily retire from golf after this week's British Open to care for his seriously ill wife Heather.

Clarke's season has already been badly affected but he will now give up the game "for the foreseeable future" to be with Heather, who is suffering from cancer.

"I've got other more pressing things to worry about," Clarke said after shooting an opening three-under 69 to stand three strokes behind first day leader Graeme McDowell.

"I'm going to finish off this week and then I won't play again for the foreseeable future. I have no plans to play further at the moment."

The 37-year-old Northern Irishman, joint runner-up in the 1997 British Open and tied third in 2001, gave himself chance to sign off with victory after taking advice from former Irish Olympic doctor Conor O'Brien, who is now with the World Anti-doping Agency.

"The past few weeks I've been pretty good until Sunday afternoons. Conor's a friend and I had a call from him saying I looked a bit dehydrated on the back nines on Sunday and he had a few tips for me last night.

"He told me to get lots of isotonic drinks into me. He told me to take some last night, a lot this morning and keep drinking as much as I possibly can."