Successful pop stars on this side of the pond often complain about the difficulty of gaining recognition in the US. But we don't associate such problems with golf, which is why Darren Clarke is entitled to feel somewhat peeved with an end-of-year report in the US magazine Golf World.

Awarding Clarke with a "D" - Tiger Woods got an "A+" and Padraig Harrington a "B" - Tim Rosaforte wrote: "Joining Monty in the 'Needs Improvement' category are Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, both of whom looked like they made a bunch of money and decided to take the year off. If this were football, the coach would have them running stadium steps all winter."

Though Clarke slipped two places in the world rankings, he still ends the year in ninth position. Which is no more than he would expect, after victories in the Dimension Date Pro-Am in South Africa, the Chunichi Crowns in Japan and the Smurfit European Open at The K Club.

For good measure, he was joint second with Harrington in the Murphy's Irish Open; tied third in the British Open, third in the NEC Invitational and tied fourth in the Volvo Masters. Not bad for a player who looked like he'd taken the year off!