So, there are millions and millions of golfers on this earth. And, bar one, nobody would ever, ever miss a chance to play with Tiger Woods . . . except for one of the world number one's closest pals, Darren Clarke.

Yesterday, a couple of days before the first major of the year, Clarke was due to play a practice round with Woods and Mark O'Meara, shortly after dawn had broken in a grey-skied Georgia. Instead, Clarke was so comfortable in his bed - "a good sign," he insisted - that he failed to keep the early appointment.

"I slept in, unfortunately," admitted Clarke. "I went to sleep at half eight and woke up at half six, but getting a good bit of rest, especially coming into a week like this, is no harm. And, no, I didn't manage to get a message to Tiger."

This little incident, in many ways, confirms how relaxed Clarke is in the US. The environment not only suits him, it really appeals to him. He looks relaxed, and one of the reasons for his demeanour is the work he has been doing with the sports psychologist Bob Rotella, who could be seen yesterday walking outside the ropes watching two of his charges - Clarke and Padraig Harrington - throughout their practice.

After missing the date with Woods, Clarke rescheduled his practice to play with Harrington and, just as they were about to tee off on the 10th, they acceded to a late request from Billy Mayfair to join them. As it turned out, Clarke - who is striking the ball quite beautifully - decided to play just nine holes before going for some work on the range with coach Butch Harmon.

Rarely, if ever, has Clarke been in such a positive frame of mind. "This is a lot different from other years," he admitted. "In the past, I haven't really been hitting the ball as good as this coming in here and, hopefully, I can continue with that kind of ball-striking and improve on my past results. If I keep hitting it the way I have been, I'll give myself an opportunity to win."

Clarke's last outing was in the Players' Championship at Sawgrass, where he finished tied-sixth. He then returned home for a week with his family before coming back to America on Sunday. "I didn't do an awful lot when I was home. My game's been pretty good nearly all this year, and my results have gone some way towards suggesting that. I believe the changes I have made since the start of the year have been productive so far," he insisted.

Those changes have involved a switch to TaylorMade clubs, to a new caddie (JP Fitzgerald, who formerly caddied for Paul McGinley) and to a new putting stroke which was used at Bay Hill and Sawgrass. "I'm comfortable with the putting stroke. I'm making a much fuller stroke and I'll keep on doing that and hopefully hole a few more putts rather than hitting the edges," he said.

The stroke was devised in conjunction with Rotella, and Clarke explained: "I'm just freeing myself up and not thinking of trying to make a perfect stroke all the time. Basically, I take my line and hit it. If it goes in, it goes in. If it doesn't, then so be it. I spent so much time before trying to get the pace perfect, the line perfect, all that sort of stuff."

Under the new putting routine, he spends less time over the ball and, consequently, has less time for negative thoughts to creep into his head. And since the putter is the most used club in the bag, it has a huge impact on a player's game.

"Ask all of the guys," he said. "It goes through everybody's game. If you're putting better, then playing with a lot more confidence."

And confidence is something that Clarke has in abundance at the present time.

He hasn't won yet this season, but he said: "I'm just so looking forward to playing again, (because) I'm really enjoying it at the moment. First major of the year? It's another tournament, but one I'd obviously like to play well in. In the past I've spent a lot of majors spending six, seven hours on the range every day . . . and that has been to my detriment. I don't need to do that this week. I'm not getting ahead of myself, but I am feeling comfortable at the moment."