Clarke bids to keep up the good work

While Michael Hoey avails of an invite to compete in Jack Nicklaus's tournament - the Memorial at Muirfield Village this week, where Tiger Woods, fresh from his win in Germany, will be attempting to win for a fourth successive year - Ireland's three top-ranked players will be competing in the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley head the Irish challenge at Wentworth where they will be joined by Des Smyth, Ronan Rafferty, Eamonn Darcy - who has received a sponsor's invite - and Ashbourne club professional John Dwyer, who topped last year's Irish Region PGA Order of Merit.

Despite professing a liking for the course, and having performed well there in the world matchplay, Harrington's record in this European Tour flagship tournament is disappointing. In fact, he has yet to have a top-10 finish in the PGA while McGinley has managed just one top-10 in 10 appearances. In contrast, Clarke has been runner-up twice in the last five years.

The respective form of Harrington, Clarke and McGinley in the past five Volvo PGA Championships indicates that, of the three, Clarke - after missing the cut in five of his first five appearances in the event - is the one who has discovered how to play the course in May. Clarke's last five outings in the tournament, from 1997 to last year, have seen him finish second, 29th, 13th, 2nd and eighth; Harrington's 60th, 11th, 56th, 17th, and 45th while McGinley's is MC, 10th, MC, 20th and 26th.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Challenge Tour resumes with the Izki Challenge in Spain with David Higgins, Gary Murphy and Paddy Gribben all entered for the event.

Hoey's invite to play in Muirfield Village was a personal one from Nicklaus, a reward for the Belfast man's win in last year's British Amateur championship at Prestwick. The 23-year-old rookie professional - who only joined the paid ranks after competing in the US Masters - has retained Scottish caddie Graham Black, who carried the bag for him in the B&H at the Belfry, for the trip.

On the US Seniors Tour, Christy O'Connor Jnr - who flew out for Chicago yesterday - will start a three-week stint with a return to familiar terrain at Grand Rapids, Michigan, for the Farmer's Classic , a tournament he won in 1999. O'Connor then intends to follow up with appearances in the NFL tournament in New Jersey and the Senior PGA at Akron, Ohio, before returning to Europe.