Clarke back to business

EVEN the European Tour's newest champion has to grind away, aware that no one can afford to rest on his laurels. A short three days after his win in the German Masters, the party is over and Darren Clarke is out on the practice range at the back of the Old Course Hotel.

He swings his MacGregor three iron and, then, stops to listen to some more words of wisdom from his coach, Peter Cowen. Just over five weeks ago, Clarke was near desperation. "I was lost," he admits, candidly. "I didn't have a golf game. I was playing poorly and my confidence was taking a bashing.

How things have changed. The switch of coaches from Bill Ferguson to Cowen has reaped swift dividends. In the six weeks since their partnership was conceived, they have conducted half a dozen full day sessions and Clarke's season has been transformed, his goals set so much higher. Three top 10 finishes in the last five tournaments (including victory in Berlin last Sunday) confirm his renewed status.

"I simply made Darren understand his swing, offered some light at the end of the tunnel," says Cowen. "We worked a bit on his pitching and his hand play, which was poor, and gave him a simple, solid long game, something which would work under pressure."

When Clarke captured his first Tour win - in the Belgian Open three years ago - one of his first gestures was to telephone Dungannon Golf Club and inform the barman that the drinks were on him. There was no repeat on Sunday night, but when Clarke finally got to his parents' home in Bushmills, Co Antrim, he found 30 family and friends waiting, and he had another party in Manchester on Monday night.

By Tuesday, however, it was back to business and a round of golf with Dunhill Cup colleagues Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington over the Old Course. A game in yesterday's pro am was followed by another session on the range with Cowen.

He means business and his record at St Andrews (five wins out of seven previous matches, including the scalps of Fred Couples and Lee Janzen) emphasise his liking for the old course.

"Hopefully, it will be another good week," he smiles.