One 2 One British Masters
Marriott Forest of Arden
Coventry, England
10th - 13th September 1998

Clarke sniffled and sneezed his way round the Forest of Arden course in high winds and heavy rain in the morning to set the target and it looked as though no-one would get within two shots of him.

Then up stepped the 30-year-old Swiss on the 196-yard fifth hole, his 14th, to hit a three-iron that rolled into the cup.

At that point Quirici was level with Clarke, but another par-three, the eighth, cost him a share of the lead when he dropped a shot to finish with a 68.

Clarke went down with influenza on Tuesday but got in the first blow in his battle to take over the European number one spot from Englishman Lee Westwood and keep Colin Montgomerie at bay.

He trails Westwood by just £5,498 ($9,190) and threatens again to overtake his management stablemate, who finished six shots adrift of him.

"I started getting flu or a cold on Tuesday," said Clarke, "and it's got progressively worse. But it worked for me today.

"Because I felt so bad - sore throat and legs like lead - I walked slower and didn't try to hit the ball so hard. That gave me much better rhythm and helped my timing considerably.

"I needed it because I can't remember this course being as tough before."

Four birdies in five holes from the 11th, his second, led Clarke into the lead and despite a bogey just after the turn, two more birdies coming home extended it.

Quirici's disappointment at dropping out of a share of the lead increased when he learned there was no prize for his ace.

"That's the eighth hole-in-one I've had in my life and the only thing I've ever won was an ash tray in Spain when I was an amateur," said Quirici, whose first professional ace last year carried him briefly into the Italian Open lead.

"But on a day of bad weather at such a tough course, I'll settle for a 68 and second place providing I can keep challenging and showing my game is improving all the while."

Quirici burst on to the European Tour scene when he battled Severiano Ballesteros in his first year as a pro for the 1989 European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre before the Spaniard took the title.

Since then he has struggled to keep his card, although he looks safe enohgh now for 1999.

He was disappointed not to do well at Crans last week and so he made a video of his swing.

"My coach Andrea Ferrario was in bed with his broken foot in plaster," said Quirici, "So I got him in my car and took him to the range, where he rested the foot on a chair while he got my swing right."

Scotland's Sam Torrance, anxious to make next year's Ryder Cup team instead of taking up an assistant's role to Mark James, is one of four players in third place after 69.

Montgomerie, third on the rankings and nearly £150,000 behind Westwood, shot 70.

England's 18-year-old Justin Rose looks as though he will miss his sixth successive cut since turning pro after an error-strewn 80.

First Round Scores