Clarke settles an old score

You could see it in his eyes, brown eyes that glinted and yet possessed unnerving, steely resolve. And once he got the scent of victory, Darren Clarke - very much like a man with unfinished business and old scores to settle - wasn't deflected from his task as he became the intimidator, not the intimidated, on his way to an eighth career tour win in the Smurfit European Open here yesterday.

As if to give us a foretaste of what the Ryder Cup in 2005 will be all about, the crowds flocked to Straffan - producing a record final day attendance of 27,921- and, with two Irishmen in contention, they got their wishes fulfilled on the double. In the end, though, Clarke was the undoubted master as he produced a final round 66 for a 72-holes aggregate of 15-under-par 273, three shots ahead of a trio of pursuers that included Padraig Harrington.

There was a sense of justice about Clarke's win, given that his final round collapse two years ago allowed Lee Westwood to overtake him. "He was gutted that night," recalled his manager Andrew Chandler. Yesterday, that memory was comprehensively confined to the past. In a display of supreme course management and shot-making, Clarke was very much the man in control as he revelled in the atmosphere created by the huge crowds yearning for a home victory.

"On this golf course, there are a lot of potential disasters waiting to happen. You can drop shots very easily, but my course management, especially, was fantastic. I was able to stay away from that, and at the same time give myself opportunities for birdies. I couldn't ask for any more," insisted Clarke.

On an dry, overcast day, with just the hint of a wind, conditions couldn't have been better. Yet, it all proved too much for overnight leader Mikael Lundberg, who had carried a one shot lead into the final round over Jarmo Sandelin and Henrik Bjornstad.

By the time the final pairing of Lundberg and Sandelin laboured up the 18th fairway, their title aspirations had long since evaporated, and Clarke was already being hailed as champion.

Clarke's move had dramatically unfolded on the front nine, where he produced five birdies in six holes from the fourth to turn in 31 strokes. And, yet, it was not without its element of good fortune. On the sixth, his six-iron approach was pulled left but hit a tree and rebounded onto the green, eight feet from the pin. "When you get a piece of luck like that, you've got to believe it is going to be your day," remarked his caddie Billy Foster.

The 32-year-old Irishman, though, took full advantage of his kindly bounces. Again, on the ninth, his drive hit a tree. It could have fallen anywhere, but dutifully managed to land on the fairway. He punched a seven-iron approach in to 10 feet and holed the putt. And while others - like Sandelin finding the pond in front of the seventh, and Lundberg putting his tee-shot on the eighth into the River Liffey - found trouble, Clarke managed to avoid dropping any shots on the homeward run while also producing birdies on the 11th and 16th, where his course management was illustrated by following a drive with a nine-iron lay-up and a nine-iron approach to 12 feet.

On the practice range on Saturday evening, long after the crowds had dispersed, and with the recent memory of a triple bogey seven on the 17th fresh in his head, Clarke and Foster spent the guts of an hour working on his swing. "I spotted he was dragging the clubhead outside and having to re-route his swing on the way down," revealed Foster.

So it was that he missed only three fairways all day, and was in little danger of repeating his Saturday dramatics on that 424 yards penultimate hole.

Nobody really threatened to make a charge at Clarke. In fact, Harrington looked the man most likely to do so - but a three-putt for bogey on the 13th effectively halted him in his tracks. On the 15th, he produced a magnificent approach shot of 208 yards with a five-iron, for a tap-in birdie; but once he missed the fairway on the 16th, ruling out going for the green in two, his challenge was finished. Indeed, as Harrington chipped back out of the rough on to the fairway, the roar up ahead that greeted Clarke's birdie confirmed in his mind that victory was now out of reach. "That knocked me out," he conceded.

Now, he was in a battle to claim his 14th runners-up finish of his tour career, and his fifth of the season. Thomas Bjorn finished with two eagles on his final three holes for 12-under-par 276 and Ian Woosnam rolled in a birdie putt on the 18th to join him on that mark - which meant that Harrington, who dropped a shot on the 17th after pushing his drive into the right rough, needed a birdie on the last to make it a three-way tie for second. He succeeded.

"I wasn't that confident about my game heading into the final round, so I played very well considering," said Harrington, who closed out his tournament with a 70. "It's great for Darren, and for Irish golf, that Darren has won - I am delighted for him, but extremely disappointed for myself."

Harrington has decided not to play in this week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, but Clarke hopes that he can maintain his momentum. There is also the incentive of chasing a $1 million bonus from his sponsors Dimension Data if he wins another two tournaments in Europe. There's nothing like a victory to put an added spring in the step!