Masters return for Clarke

Tour news: Darren Clarke's stop-start season will recommence at this week's Quinn Direct British Masters at The Belfry, where the Ulsterman, one of 10 Irish players in the field, will play for the first time since he retired from last month's Houston Open on the US Tour in order to return home to his wife, Heather, who is fighting cancer.

It will be only his fifth outing on the European Tour this season.

Clarke, understandably, has been inactive for almost three weeks since his wife received results of tests which came through after he had completed the first round in Houston and prompted his return home.

He will be joined in the British Masters by the strongest Irish contingent of the season so far.

Clarke, whose tournament schedule is basically on a week-to-week basis, is playing in Birmingham, only a short helicopter flight from home, in the first week of a stretch that, hopefully, will take in next week's Nissan Irish Open at Carton House and the BMW Championship at Wentworth the following week.

The other Irish players competing at the Belfry are Padraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, Graeme McDowell, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, David Higgins, Michael Hoey, Stephen Browne and Philip Walton.

Browne and Walton are playing on invitations from Fermanagh businessman Seán Quinn, who is sponsoring this tournament for a first time.

Harrington, who has not played in Europe since the Volvo Masters last November, with his four previous outings on the 2006 European Tour schedule coming in Malaysia, China and twice in counting tournaments in the US, the Masters and the Accenture Matchplay, is also starting a three-week stint on this side of the Atlantic.

The Dubliner's sequence here comes at a time when Europe's Ryder Cup captain, Ian Woosnam, has voiced concerns over Harrington's heavy emphasis on tournaments in America, rather than on this side of the Atlantic.

Woosnam has said he will use the Tour Dinner at Wentworth in a fortnight to get the message across to players like Harrington and Lee Westwood that any wild card selections will likely go to those who have supported the tournaments on the European Tour.

As things stand, Harrington is 13th on both the world points list (based on official world ranking points won at counting tournaments on the main tours) and the European Tour points list in the Ryder Cup standings for the match at the K Club on September 22nd-24th.

The reality, though, is that this week's British Masters is an important juncture in the season for many, and will kick-start the run for home in the Ryder Cup qualifying race over a summer and autumn stretch that still has three of the year's four majors remaining, as well as a series of big-money tournaments.

In other words, Woosie shouldn't be overly concerned just yet about Harrington's or Westwood's prospects of making his team.

McGinley, the player who sank the winning putt for Europe in the 2002 Ryder Cup at the Belfry, is returning to familiar ground and is the only Irish player in Europe's team for September's match.

He has had a three-week break, during which he spent some time holidaying in Ireland and visiting the course he is designing at Macreddin Village in Wicklow, and is resuming tournament play for the first time since he missed the cut at the Heritage Classic in the States.

McDowell, who missed the cut in last week's Wachovia Championship won by Jim Furyk in a play-off over Trevor Immelman, is playing in Europe for the next three weeks before returning to America in his quest to return to the world's top 50 by May 30th, which would earn him a place in next month's US Open at Winged Foot.

European Order of Merit

Irish positions

21 Padraig Harrington (4) 317,055

50 Darren Clarke (4) €158,437

55 Peter Lawrie (12) 143,269

61 Damien McGrane (15) 129,237

88 Paul McGinley (5) 92,935

121 Graeme McDowell (2) 57,297

130 Gary Murphy (11) €50,692

133 David Higgins (12) 48,335

188 Stephen Browne (7) 18,645

US Champions Tour

1 Loren Roberts (7)$986,520

2 Jay Haas (7)$855,735

3 Brad Bryant (8)$754,015

4 Tom Kite (10)$623,151

5 Hale Irwin (10)$561,027

14 Des Smyth (Ire, 9)$335,428

15 Mark McNulty (Ire, 9)$320,205