Darren Clarke will make another major career move tomorrow when he is named in the elite, 12-man field for the £650,000 Toyota World Matchplay Championship at Wentworth on October 9th to 12th. But it means a disappointment for the organisers of the conflicting Smurfit Irish Professional Championship, in which Clarke, a former winner, will be unable to compete.
The 29-year-old Portrush-based player becomes only the third Irishman to compete in a highlyprized event which Ernie Els will be attempting to win for a fourth successive year. The two previous Irish challengers were Christy O'Connor Snr in 1965 and Ronan Rafferty in 1989 and 1990.
Interestingly, when Rafferty appeared in 1990, he had captured the European Order of Merit title, a distinction which Clarke is currently attempting to emulate. And Clarke would be more than happy to match Rafferty's Wentworth performances.
In 1989, Rafferty beat American Mike Reid and Sandy Lyle before losing to Ian Woosnam in the semi-finals. Then, the following year, he had a superb, 8 and 6 victory over Seve Ballesteros in which he shot an approximate morning round of 62 - 10 under par - which has yet to be equalled.
"I'm thrilled," said Clarke yesterday. "It almost ranks alongside the Ryder Cup. I've grown up with the World Matchplay and I have watched it on television probably every year for the last 15 years."
A guarantee of £30,000 is undoubtedly welcome, but Clarke's invitation is more about exposure and prestige. He is currently down to 31st in the Sony World Rankings. Rafferty reached 18th, the highest position recorded by an Irishman. Due to the unavailability of Bernhard Langer, the complete line-up has yet to be finalised, but in addition to Els and Clarke, it is expected to include Colin Montgomerie, Woosnam and Brad Faxon.
Meanwhile, Clarke is among nine Irishmen in the field for the One-2-One British Masters, which starts at the Forest of Arden on Thursday. The others are: Rafferty, Paul McGinley, Philip Walton, Christy O'Connor Jnr, Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy, Raymond Burns and David Higgins.
Clarke felt he "got away with murder" by losing so little ground in the Order of Merit after failing to make the halfway cut in the Lancome Tournament last weekend. He now renews rivalry with Montgomerie and Woosnam on a course where he has finished in the top four for the last two years.
The Order of Merit title is clearly to the forefront of Clarke's thoughts before other matters take precedence when he arrives in Valderrama next Monday. And his end-of-season plans mean that he will not be available to play for Ireland in the World Cup at Kiawah Island on November 20th to 23rd.
Instead, he will be playing in the Kapalua International on November 6th to 9th in Hawaii, before making his first appearance in Japan in two tournaments - the Visa Taiheiyo and the Dunlop Phoenix. Clarke will also play nine events in the US next year.
He expects to qualify for the Masters, the US Open and the USPGA Championship and has received invitations for Bay Hill, the Players' Championship, the Buick Classic, the Buick Open and the Sprint International.
At the other end of the money scale, three Irish players will be trying desperately to improve their current positions in the remaining Order of Merit tournaments. With only the top 115 to retain their cards at the end of the season, Darcy is 113th, Smyth is 132nd and Higgins is in serious trouble in 156th place.
Whereas Darcy and Smyth can rely on Category Seven status next season from their positions in the top-40 career money winners, Higgins has no fall-back position. Needing another £30,000 to be sure of survival, the Waterville player will have to do a lot better than the share of ninth place in the Oki Pro-Am which got him out of trouble last season.
Darcy started his season in 32nd position in the career money list while Smyth was 33rd. Since January, Darcy has slipped only two places to 34th (£1,480,933), but his compatriot is in 37th place with career money of £1,458,219. The pressure on them is eased, however, by the fact that among those players in potentially threatening positions are US-based Jesper Parnevik (42nd) and veteran Jose-Maria Canizares (43rd), who is now competing at senior level.
Meanwhile, Smyth and Darcy will be among those Ryder Cup players to be honoured in association with the MasterCard Southern PGA Championship to be staged at the Portmarnock Hotel and Golf Links next Tuesday and Wednesday.
They will be joined in a strong field by O'Connor Snr, O'Connor Jnr, Walton, Padraig Harrington, McGinley, Burns and Higgins.
The insistence of Ryder Cup skipper, Seve Ballesteros that in the context of the forthcoming challenge at Valderrama, no significance should be read into the victory of US team member Mark O'Meara is quite justifiable.
If one were to follow such thinking to its logical conclusion, the Americans would be deeply concerned Faxon failed to make the cut in the CVS Charity Classic at Pleasant Valley last weekend. Nor was there much cause for joy in the performances of Justin Leonard (tied 23rd) and Jim Furyk (tied 46th). Loren Roberts won the event.
Irish Positions in the European Order of Merit: 4 Darren Clarke £437,314; 14 Padraig Harrington £242,562; 40 Paul McGinley £133,635; 58 Ronan Rafferty £100,546; 62 Philip Walton £95,424; 90 Raymond Burns £62,432; 113 Eamonn Darcy £48,292; 132 Des Smyth £37,133; 156 David Higgins £21,252; 157 Christy O'Connor Jnr £21,184.
Top 10 In Us Money List (US unless stated): 1 Tiger Woods $1,949,920; 2 Justin Leonard $1,463,531; 3 Greg Norman (Australia) $1,248,256; 4 Steve Elkington (Australia) $1,240,411; 5 Scott Hoch $1,213,555; 6 Ernie Els (South Africa) $1,176,608; 7 Jim Furyk $1,164,890; 8 Davis Love $1,132,523; 9 Phil Mickelson $1,121,990; 10 Brad Faxon $1,093,505. Other placings - 11 Jesper Parnevik $1,077,587; 47 Nick Faldo $431,326; 72 Darren Clarke $282,816.
