This could be new beginning for Clarke

Darren Clarke doesn't pretend to be a clairvoyant, but the temptation to look a little ahead into the future is irresistible. And what he sees is bright.

"I can get a lot better as a player . . . this is just the start of it," he insisted yesterday, less than 24 hours after savouring a career highlight in capturing the Smurfit European Open, a win that returned him to the top 10 in the world rankings.

Having stayed on at the K Club on Sunday night to celebrate his eighth European Tour win, and his first in Ireland, Clarke drove home to the north Antrim coast yesterday. It'll be a short visit, though. Rather than taking a break ahead of next week's British Open at Royal Lytham, Clarke has decided to resume his intensive tournament schedule by playing in this week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond for what will be his ninth event in a 10-week stretch.

"To be honest, I'm still on a high, and it is a win that really means so much to me. I believe that, as a player, I am a lot better now than when I beat Tiger in the world matchplay. I have more control of my game and my confidence has never been as good as it is now," he said.

Indeed, now that he has rediscovered how to win on the European Tour, this latest success ending a spell of 13 months since his win in the English Open, Clarke would like to continue the momentum in Scotland later this week.

"I'm not saying I am going to go out and win again, but I do feel good about my game and I want to keep on playing. It is quite easy to continue on when you have just won," he said.

However, the bigger picture is Clarke's world ranking - and, having reached number nine at one point but slipped out to 13th prior to his win in Straffan, the 32-year-old is pleased that he is once again moving in the right direction and back to number 10 in the latest rankings.

"People look to the world rankings to see how good a player is and I want to keep on improving. I am doing everything I can to make myself a better player," insisted Clarke.

An indication of Clarke's quest to seek self-betterment has been his willingness to change. A new, protein-rich diet, recommended to him by Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance, has enabled him to lose almost two stone.

"I definitely feel a little bit better with that weight loss, and it has helped me turn much more easily in my swing," he said.

Clarke has also started working with fitness trainer John Newton - "Nothing too strenuous, mainly stretching exercises" - and, midway through the Irish Open at Fota two weeks ago, he switched psychologists from Bob Rotella, who is based in the United States, to Jos Vanstiphout, a Belgian based on the European Tour.

Interestingly, after finishing tied-30th in the US Open at Southern Hills in Tulsa last month, which was the sixth consecutive event he played in, Clarke had intimated that he wouldn't undertake such a stretch again. However, his performances of the past two weeks - which saw him finish second at Fota and win in Straffan - has more than helped recharge his batteries, and his schedule will see him play constantly up to the Scandinavian Masters in early August, another six-week run.

While the European Open was his first win in Europe this year, he had previously won in South Africa and Japan this season, and the latest victory enabled him to move from 18th in the Order of Merit up to fourth place. He has also taken over as number one in the Ryder Cup qualifying table.

In many ways, the win was overdue. Clarke has been insisting in recent weeks that his scoring has not reflected how well he has played and, in fact, he had included three top 10 finishes inside the past two months - tied-eighth in the Volvo PGA, tied-fifth in the English Open and tied-second in the Irish Open - before rediscovering winning ways.

Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, has improved eight places to a career-high 16th place in the world rankings following his second successive runners-up position. However, he has decided not to play in the Scottish Open and, instead, plans to work on his game and play some links courses in preparation for the British Open.

"All I want to do is play some links golf, get ready for the British Open, be rested and ready for that," said Harrington.

"My focus was a lot better on Sunday than it had been, so that augurs well."