Just eight weeks ago, Lee Westwood left Augusta National close to his peak. A tied-sixth place finish in the US Masters contrasted quite dramatically with the early exit of his stable-mate Darren Clarke, who had missed the cut. Now, the shoe is on the other foot, and the Englishman is attempting to duplicate Clarke's resurgence by playing his way back to form.
Westwood hadn't intended to play in this week's Compaq European Grand Prix at Slaley Hall, but, yesterday, he changed his mind and entered the tournament. "Lee has been going through a bit of a lean time recently . . . he feels the best way to counter the situation is to play himself through it," explained his manager, Andrew "Chubby" Chandler.
Clarke was in a similar situation after Augusta, but has transformed his game to such an extent that he now enters every tournament convinced he has a chance of winning. Clarke leads a seven-strong contingent of Irish players to the north of England this week, and his winnings of $78,863 in Pinehurst has moved him to eighth place in the all-time career money list on the European Tour (with €4,097,887). He is also back to 17th place, just .02 behind Jeff Maggert, in the latest world rankings. His tied-10th finish also guarantees him an invitation to compete in the 100th US Open at Pebble Beach next year.
How the rest of the Irish players on tour respond to Clarke's current form will be witnessed at Slaley Hall, where Paul McGinley, Padraig Harrington, Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy, John McHenry and Des Smyth are in the field.
For McGinley and Harrington, the objective is to continue their run towards a "current form" exemption for the British Open at Carnoustie next month. That list runs from the Volvo PGA at Wentworth last month up to and including the Loch Lomond Invitational. Obviously, the Murphy's Irish Open, with £1.2 million (Stg£1 million) in prize-money, is a part of that particular equation. But for Walton, McHenry and Smyth, the objectives in the European Grand Prix are somewhat lower as they seek to win enough prize-money to retain their tour cards for next season.
Clarke's recent run of form hasn't caused him to rethink his approach towards next week's Irish Open at Druids Glen, and it remains off his itinerary as he focuses on the British Open. The loss of Jose-Maria Olazabal, due to a broken bone in his hand, is a further loss to the organisers.
But they have held on to one sponsor's invitation in case a big name player changes his mind and decides to player in Wicklow.
In the United States this week, meanwhile, there will be further Irish interest with Christy O'Connor Jnr resuming his quest to win his US Seniors Tour card without the need to visit the end-of-season tour school.
O'Connor has earned an invitation into this week's Senior Player's Championship at the TPC of Michigan and will make only his fifth appearance on the seniors circuit this season. His previous four tournaments have been profitable ones, though, and he is 47th in the money list with prize-money of $169,907.
In contrast, Keith Nolan, who lost his full tour card last year, is still seeking a breakthrough on the Nike Tour and will play his 11th tournament of the season in the Le High Valley Open at Centre Valley in Pennsylvania this week. Nolan currently lies in 109th place on the money list on the second tour with prize-money of $6,287.
