| Crans-sur-Sierre,
Switzerland, 3rd September 1998 -
Northern Irishman Darren Clarke began with an eagle and then swept into the lead
with a four-birdie run to throw down the gauntlet to Lee Westwood in Thursday's
first round of the European Masters. Clarke
lies only £43,000 ($72,240) behind England's European Order of Merit leader and
the Irishman is already six strokes ahead in the race for the number one spot
after a seven-under-par 64. With
seven birdies in all to compensate easily for two loose shots for bogeys, Clarke
is already in position to improve on two recent runner-up spots and overtake Lee
Westwood, who shot 70. Sweden's
Patrik Sjoland began his Ryder Cup points bid by claiming second place with a
65, a shot better than compatriot Olle Karlsson, Norway's Per Haugsrud and the
1994 Crans winner, veteran Argentine Eduardo Romero. While
Clarke is keeping a close eye on friend and management stablemate Westwood, he
is unconcerned that the scramble for spots on Mark James's European Ryder Cup
team begins this week. "Obviously
I'd like to close the gap and get in front of Lee on Sunday," said Clarke,
who began his assault with a crashing five-iron approach to just 12 inches on
the first. "But we all know what Lee's capable of and there's a long way
to go. "The
way I'm looking at the Ryder Cup is that if I play my own game and it's good enough,
I'll make the team. I want to win tournaments and the rest of matters will take
care of themselves. "I'm
not worried about getting points in the bag early. Winning tournaments is top
of my list." After
three second places this year to go with a first in the Benson and Hedges International,
he and Westwood have developed a private battle for number one. Westwood
played with Colin Montgomerie, currently third on the rankings, but neither was
satisfied with their 70s, a mark they share with Jose Maria Olazabal and Severiano
Ballesteros. Nick
Faldo was also disappointed with a 71 which included four birdies but four bogeys
as he began a run of four European events to try to claim early Ryder Cup points
and avoid needing a wild card next year to play against the Americans at Brookline
clash with America. Ballesteros
shrugged off complaints from many players about his revamping of nine holes at
the Crans course, which last year was heavily criticised, particularly because
of its greens. "Some
players will always say bad things about courses," said Ballesteros. "The
important thing is that I'm happy with the changes I've made. I think I have a
well-balanced course."
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