Darren Clarke is reconsidering his upcoming tournament schedule after discovering that six successive weeks on the circuit took too much of a toll. Although he doesn't play in this week's European Grand Prix and is due to play at next week's Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island, the player has admitted he is unlikely to repeat such a long stretch.
His original plan was to undertake another six weeks on the road, starting with the Irish Open and extending to the Scandinavian Masters at the start of August, which would have meant competing in 12 tournaments in a 13-week span. "I've entered for six weeks but I am not really sure what I'm going to do," said Clarke, who intends to have a fresh look at his itinerary.
Clarke didn't waste time in exiting Tulsa on Sunday after his US Open appearance resulted in a disappointing tied30th finish, the same position as Padraig Harrington, which earned them $30,055 each. Shortly after concluding his round, he headed for the airport to board a private jet - accompanied by manager Chubby Chandler and Leeds United manager David O'Leary - which had them back in Manchester within eight hours.
For Clarke, though, it was not a happy championship. Having recovered from a disastrous start in Thursday's first round when he was four over par after five holes, the real blow to his chances came late on Friday when, in near darkness, after being informed that he must finish the hole, he put two balls into the water on the 13th in running up a triple bogey eight.
For Harrington, too, there was a degree of disappointment and he also is taking a week's break before returning for next week's Irish Open. The Dubliner admitted he is still "struggling with concentration" but believes that being paired with Tiger Woods in the final round was another part of his learning curve.
"I familiarised myself with a situation that hopefully will happen again in better circumstances," he remarked. And the prospect of coming face-to-face with Tiger again at the Belfry in September at the Ryder Cup is an appealing one. "It'll be easier in the Ryder Cup. You either win or lose. Every player on the European team would like to play Tiger Woods because they can't lose. They are meant to lose," he insisted.
The Irish player with probably the most to be satisfied with after the US Open wasn't even in Tulsa. Paul McGinley, who had failed to get an invite and who decided not to attempt to pre-qualify, could have slipped down the European Ryder Cup rankings but the poor performances generally by European players who did compete meant that those aspirations were not seriously dented. In fact, Nick Faldo only added $9,508 to his qualifying total while Mathias Gronberg and Scotland's Gary Orr boosted their totals by just $8,863.
Sergio Garcia could have booked his place on the team, but he had a terrible final round. He finally signed for a 77 which dropped him down to tied-12th and earned him a cheque for $91,733.
