Ireland's heaviest hitter tells Philip Reid that if the putts drop he can win this thing.

Money can't buy you everything, and certainly not what Darren Clarke really wants. You can have a shopping list of items that most people only dream about - Ferraris, detached country homes and Havana cigars - and still be left with a feeling of incompleteness, an emptiness that can be assuaged only by victory in a major.

Yesterday, on the putting green that lies close to the elegant, old-world clubhouse that is home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, Clarke spent minute after minute rolling the ball into a freshly painted tin cup. Like so many others in a sport that torments the minds of even its sanest exponents, he was desperately seeking the touch with the putter that could assist in finally fulfilling his destiny.

Clarke has so many putters that sometimes there isn't enough room for all of them in a typical tournament locker. This week, having toyed with a number of different ones for the best part of two months, he has resorted to an old putter that has served him well on links greens in the past. He has also widened his putting stance slightly and lengthened his putting stroke.

"I've been hitting it too much recently, as opposed to stroking it. I'm trying to get more flow, to see if I can hole a few more putts," he explained.

If Clarke's putting clicks into place, he knows he can win. Nobody loves links terrain, with all its nuances and demands on creativity, as much as he does, and, consequently, of all the majors, it is in the British Open that he has performed best.

This is his 12th appearance in an Open and three times in the last five he has contended. Last year at Lytham, he finished third - despite suffering a double-bogey six on his 71st hole - and, the year before, at St Andrews, he was seventh. His best chance of all, though, came at Troon in 1997, when he was runner-up, eventually finishing three strokes behind Justin Leonard.

Do the near misses hang around his neck like a millstone? "Not at all," insisted Clarke, "they inspire me."

Indeed, of all the majors, this is the one that most inspires him. While others are inclined to keep half an eye on what Tiger Woods is doing, Clarke, who went head-to-head with him and won in the world matchplay two years ago, can honestly state that he isn't overly concerned about what the world's number one is up to.

"If you're worrying about what Tiger is going to do all the time, you're wasting your time. You're beating your head off a brick wall," said Clarke. "If you don't have enough confidence in your own ability to challenge him, there's no point in playing the game."

Clarke truly believes that he has the game to win a British Open.

"You know, if I'm at the top of my game, playing a links course, yes, I feel I can compete with anybody. Especially on a links. I've grown up playing links courses and, because of that, the Open is my favourite major and the one I foresee myself having the best chance in. You're not playing against somebody else, it is the golf course.

"It is the golf course you have to beat, not Tiger. He's obviously number one in the world, and he is going to be a tough guy to beat. But, if I am on top of my game, I like to think I can give myself a chance to compete with him this week."

As for the course, he promised it would be "a very tough test", adding: "There is going to be a lot of strategy involved, a lot of course management. There are options everywhere, and that can make it even more difficult. If you try to push too hard, you are going to end up making double bogeys. There are going to be a lot of two-irons off the tees, and a lot of going in with long irons to greens.

"It is going to make it more difficult to score, but at least that way you'll have an opportunity to do so. If you drive it in the rough, you'll have no chance."

To fit in with the demands of Muirfield, Clarke has opted to put a two-iron in his bag instead of a five-wood, and has also added weight to the two-iron to help play "lower, chasing" shots.

This is Clarke's fourth event in successive weeks and his 10th in an 11-week stretch, which is quite a contrast to Woods, who took a four-week break after the US Open before reappearing here. History, though, shows us that Clarke often produces his best play towards the end of a long stint on the road. His only win so far this season, in the English Open, came in the fourth week of a five-week run. Is that an omen?

One thing is certain, however, and it is that Clarke is very bullish in attitude ahead of the championship.

"The only expectation on my shoulders is from myself; and I am 17 stone, so there is a lot of weight on my shoulders. I don't match up to anybody's expectations, only my own. And I am stern enough. When it's your turn to win a major, you win a major."