Nobody can be quite certain of the exact criterion that ensures a first invitation to compete in the US Masters, but Darren Clarke - the first Irishman to earn over £500,000 in prizemoney in a season on the European Tour - can be quietly confident a letter bearing the Augusta National crest will drop through his letter box some time early in the New Year.
On past evidence, a top-six finish in the European moneylist has been sufficient to secure a place. Lee Westwood made his debut in the Masters in April courtesy of a sixth placed finish in the Order of Merit rankings last year. As such, Clarke, who earned £537,409 to finish in fourth position in this season's final list, appears likely to be Augusta-bound. Indeed, his high-profile second place finish in the British Open at Royal Troon should help in his quest to get an invitation.
On their Order of Merit placings alone, Clarke (fourth) and Padraig Harrington (eighth) have definitely earned the right to play in the other three majors - US Open, US PGA and British Open - next season. For now, foreign climes of a different type beckon. This weekend, Clarke flies out to Japan to compete in two tournaments - the Sumitomo Visa Taiheiyo Masters next week and the Dunlop Phoenix Open the following week - before taking a break from the sport for the winter.
However, while Clarke takes a week off from competitive play, his Irish colleagues Paul McGinley and Harrington have no such luxury. The pair will compete in two prestige tournaments in the United States over the next two weeks.
McGinley, as Austrian Open winner last year, and Harrington, winner of the Spanish Open last season, flew out yesterday to compete in the $2 million Sarazen World Open at Chateau Elan, starting on Thursday. The pair will then team up in the World Cup at Kiawah Island on November 20th-23rd. That event will finish Harrington's commitments for the season, but McGinley will travel on to play in the Hong Kong Open the following week.
Harrington, incidentally, has confirmed he will play fewer tournaments next season: this season, he played 30 times in Europe - only one player, England's David Howell (31 events), played more times. Meanwhile, Clarke's endeavours during the 1997 European season ensured he became the first Irish player to break that £1/2 million barrier in a season, a feat accomplished, remarkably enough, without a win.
An indication of the rapid increase in prizemoney on the European circuit inside the past decade is that the list of top ten Irish money winners in a season features just five players: Clarke, Harrington, McGinley, Ronan Rafferty and David Feherty. Indeed, Clarke earned more for finishing fourth this year than Rafferty won when actually topping the Order of Merit in 1989.
