Crisis? What crisis? Darren Clarke may not be flying at the sort of dizzy heights he reached last year, but there is no sign of inner turmoil. Indeed, on the practice range at Rathsallagh in the Wicklow hills yesterday, he was at his self-deprecating best. And no one suffering stress can joke like a comedian and attempt to replicate his famous Royal Troon "shank" at the same time.
"What's the best shot you've played this season," he was asked during the corporate-day clinic. "Me? I haven't hit any good shot that I can remember," he quipped.
The 30-year-old Dungannon man is taking a three-week break from tournament play, partly to overcome a muscle problem in his back and partly to prepare himself for the really big-money tournaments which are coming up.
Later, in slightly more serious mode, Clarke - a Havana cigar making the barest of connections with his lips - explained why he isn't unduly troubled by a slump, by his standards, that has him in a lowly 79th position in the European Tour Order of Merit and down to fifth in Europe's Ryder Cup standings.
"My game is not that bad," he insisted, "and I don't know why I'm scoring like I am. I am doing all the right things, just not converting my chances or getting the bad bounce here or there. But I'm certainly nowhere near as bad as the scores suggest."
The back muscle trouble first surfaced on the range at Augusta National and surfaced again in Macau last weekend where a couple of "twinges" confirmed it hadn't gone away.
"It is the first time ever that I have experienced this sort of problem, and it is purely a precautionary measure to take time off. I just have to grin and bear it, and wait for things to come right again."
And, in his present difficulties, Clarke has drawn upon a statement which former British Open champion Tom Weiskopf made in his heyday. "Tom used to say, `when you play badly, you never understand how you play well, but when you play well, it is even harder to understand how you played badly.' It is tough on me at the moment, but I'm working to get back to where I want to be," he said.
He continued: "It is not as if I'm skimping off. I am working hard on my game, with Pete (Cowan) and Seve (Ballesteros) gave me a tip on my bunker play at the TPC which was quite good. I'm diligently working away on my game, and I'm confident it will come right."
So, no little talks from Colin Montgomerie a la his chat in the lead-up to the Ryder Cup at Valderrama two years ago? "No, none."
Clarke resumes his tournament play at the Benson and Hedges at the Oxfordshire on May 13th-16th, where he will be the defending champion.
That marks a stint of four tournaments in succession. The International is followed by the Deutsche Bank TPC, then the Volvo PGA and then the English Open, a run of four tournaments with over £4 million in prize-money which could dramatically change Clarke's - or any other player who hits form in that spell - season.
However, Clarke claims he hasn't mapped out his schedule for the year beyond the English Open, although he will play in the US Open at Pinehurst - he intends to arrive there a week early and will spend time practising on the number two course - and, then, hinted that he is in two minds about whether to pursue an invitation to play in the Western Open on the US Tour or return for the Murphy's Irish Open.
"I haven't finalised my plans yet, but I can tell you I will definitely be playing in the Smurfit European Open," he said, all of which hints at some behind-the-scenes manoeuvring of one sort or another.
That's all for another day, it seems, but Clarke's appearance in Rathsallagh yesterday was to coincide with the launch in Ireland of the MacGregor tourney forged clubs which he, and US Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, worked with the company's master club-maker Don White in the development stages.
"They're the number one forged iron around," he enthused, almost wistfully, as if imagining the immediate future when his play on the course may back up such a statement.
