DARREN CLARKE quickly dismissed the notion that he might be tempting fate by heading off to Valderrama this morning for pre season practice. In fact, the 28 year old Ulsterman is clearly delighted at the possibility of returning to the Spanish venue next September as a member of Europe's Ryder Cup team.
As it happens, he will be joined there this week by colleagues Lee Westwood and Andrew Coltart, and all three are considered to be leading candidates for the European line up. With the battle for places soon to be resumed after the winter break, Clarke is fourth in the Ryder Cup standings Westwood 11th and Coltart 15th.
Prior to that assignment with the Americans, Clarke and Westwood are virtually certain to be competing in the European section of the Andersen Consulting World Championship, based on their current Sony Rankings.
Following Greg Norman's victory in the 1996 event at Grayhawk GC, Arizona, last Sunday, it was announced that European qualifying for this year's event has been switched from the Oxfordshire to the Buckinghamshire GC on May 19th and 20th, directly after the English Open. The eight player European field will be announced early in March.
Meanwhile, Clarke is anxious to get back into tournament action.
"I will be playing from the start of the new season, in the Johnnie Walker Classic and the Heineken Classic in Australia later this month," he said yesterday. "I have made no secret of my determination to make the Ryder Cup team and I want to get the necessary points as quickly as possible."
He went on: "After winning my first European tournament in Belgium in 1993, I admit that I took my foot off the pedal a bit. During 1994 and 1995, I certainly learned a lot about what it takes to climb further up the ladder. As for this trip to Valderrama: it just happens to be a nice coincidence."
Clarke explained that when he finished runner up in the Volvo Masters in 1993, Valderrama's owner, Jaime Patino, extended to him the courtesy of the course. And his anxiety to get there can be gauged from the fact that a departing 6.30 flight this morning will have him on the Costa del Sol in ample time for a round of golf at Valderrama later today. "We're expecting good weather, so I should be able to get in plenty of work," he said.
While at Valderrama as a club member's house guest until Sunday next, he will be joined by his coach, Peter Cowan, who has been guiding his fortunes since they came together during the One 2 One British Masters at Collingtree Park last August. After that, the Ulsterman will be back at his home in Portrush for four days before heading for Australia and the start of a new season.
Compatriots Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley must also be considered serious challengers for Ryder Cup selection. McGinley heads for the US next Monday for a few days' practice en route to Australia.
Philip Walton, who made an heroic contribution to the 1995 victory at Oak Hill, will not be going into action until the Dubai Desert Classic, starting on February 27th.
But the scramble for Ryder Cup points is reflected in the entries for the opening two events of the season. It means that despite comfortably retaining his card last season, David Higgins will not get a place in either of the Australian tournaments.
Higgins is still in an enviable position, however, compared with Francis Howley, who lost his card last season. The Rosses Point player is heading for the Asian Tour School in Manilla on February 5th to 8th. If successful, he will compete in some of the Asian events, but his main focus during 1997 will be on the European Challenge Tour.
Meanwhile, I understand that arrangements have been made for a rather special duel at Mount Juliet in July. As part of the Shell Wonderful World of Golf series, the Thomastown venue has been booked for a clash between Tom Watson and Fred Couples, probably on a date close to the British Open at Royal Troon.
The most recent match in the series to be played in these islands was the clash between Couples and Norman at Skibo Castle in Scotland, last autumn. Since then, Norman has had a victory in Australia and a $1 million pay day in the Andersen Consulting final against Scott Hoch last Sunday.
It was the first real test for swing modifications recommended by Norman's new coach, David Leadbetter, who is now preferred to Butch Harmon. It will be recalled that Harmon was, the man behind the modifications that delivered a spectacular victory for the Shark in the 1993 British Open at Royal St George's.
Apparently, the Australian believes that the Leadbetter method has restored his accuracy off the tee - a problem that was evident as early as the first hole of his fateful final round in the US Masters last April. Either way, he is allowing himself ample time to groove the new swing in practice, insofar as he will not see tournament action again until he defends the Doral Ryder Open on March 6th to 9th.
The Scottsdale triumph means that Norman has broken Nick Faldo's record for consecutive weeks at number one in the Sony World Rankings. He has been there for the last 82 weeks and has held the top spot for a total of 291 weeks since the system was launched in 1986.
Faldo, seventh in the current list, held the previous record for 81 weeks from July 1992, when he captured the British Open for a third time, until January 1994. But he came nowhere near to matching Norman's achievement of being ever present in the world's top 10 during the 10 year history of the system.
