On learning of his failure to get a place alongside Padraig Harrington in the Cisco World Matchplay Championship, Darren Clarke has decided to play in the Smurfit Irish Professional Championship at The Island on October 14th to 17th. And Clarke's current rivalry with Harrington has prompted him to add the Belgacom Open, a week later, to his end-of-season schedule.

As it happens, the Tyroneman's return to the Irish Championship after a lapse of two years, means he will be challenging for the title which Harrington captured at Powerscourt last year. It also means a significant boost to the event, which has been run against the World Matchplay in recent years.

"Obviously I'm disappointed not to have got into the Wentworth field," said Clarke, who was invited for the last two years, losing to Ian Woosnam in the opening round 12 months ago. "I thought I had a good chance when Lee Westwood withdrew, but there's always the risk of something odd happening in an event that's run by IMG."

Clarke quickly added: "I realise Padraig is an IMG client, but unlike some of the names on the list, he fully deserves to have got among the 12, especially after his outstanding form in the Ryder Cup and the way he played in Germany last weekend. But Notah Begay is hardly a household name and I'm also surprised to see Craig Parry in the field."

As to his decision to compete in Belgium, Clarke explained: "It's simple: I want to retain my position as the leading Irishman on the European Tour for another year. Padraig (now sixth) has gone a place ahead of me (seventh) and I want to try and get past him again. Being leading Irishman is important to me."

Meanwhile, Harrington's 19-year-old conquerer in Cologne, Sergio Garcia, has accepted an invitation into the Wentworth lineup. Having added last Sunday's title to a Murphy's Irish Open triumph in only his ninth European event since turning professional, Garcia had moved into second place in the Order of Merit with earnings of £819,987.

Other players fighting for the £170,000 first prize will be defending champion and member of America's victorious Ryder Cup team, Mark O'Meara, US Masters champion Jose-Maria Olazabal and British Open champion Paul Lawrie.

The surprise inclusion of littleknown, 27-year-old American, Begay, is partially explained by the fact that he gained the unique distinction of shooting 59 on the Nike Tour last season.

He also holds the record of becoming only the second native American to win on the US PGA Tour - Ky Laffoon was the first - through his victory at the Reno-Tahoe Open in August.

The draw for the Championship will take place at Wentworth on Tuesday, October 12, at 11 a.m. The 12-man line-up is: 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).

On the US Tour, David Toms captured the Buick Challenge at Callaway Gardens on Sunday, four days after walking off the course, holding his back in agony. "I had no idea I would win," said Toms, who won the Sprint Interational at Castle Pines, Denver, in August.

By single-putting the last five greens, Toms opened up an unassailable lead of six strokes to take top prize of $324,000 and move up to ninth in the US money list. As it happened, Australian Stuart Appleby birdied two of the last three holes but it was good enough only for second place.

Unlike Europe, where two current Ryder Cup players, Garcia and Harrington, went head-to-head in search of a tour win, the only American team member in contention last weekend was Davis Love. With a closing 70, Love was in a threeway tie for third place.

The winning effort by Toms came as a complete surprise to his physical therapist. "I'm surprise he played so well," said Ralph Simpson, who applied rubdowns, heat, ice and electrodes to the player's back. "When you're hurting like that, it's hard to get through the ball, let along play well. But we gave him the platform and he's gone from there."

Through his victory in the German Masters, Garcia has made the top 20 in the world rankings for the first time. The remarkable Spaniard, who turned professional after the Masters last April and has played only 14 ranking events in his 24 weeks in paid ranks, has leapt to 17th on the latest list.

Bernhard Langer, the only player to stay in the world top 50 since the rankings began in 1986, finally dropped to 54th.