Europe's Ryder elite return

All this concern about the languid start to the season by potential members of Europe's team for the Ryder Cup match with the United States in Brookline, Massachusetts, in September (yes, almost eight months away) is understandable, but ultimately irrelevant.

The opening three tournaments of the season have all been won by non-Europeans - David Frost, Ernie Els and Jarrod Moseley - and, according to some quarters, this is supposed to signal doom and gloom about Europe's prospects of successfully defending the trophy later in the season. The truth begs to differ. Most of Europe's so-called "big guns" have yet to emerge from winter hibernation and, in fact, there is a sense of deja vu about the scenario that is unfolding.

Back in 1997, five of the first six events on the European Tour were won by non-Europeans; and, indeed, the only exception, Miguel Angel Martin's success in the Heineken Classic, was well and truly overtaken by circumstances when he was injured and consequently dropped from the team by Seve Ballesteros.

If anything, those who have delayed their reappearances onto the circuit this season are probably the cute ones and three of the main players ease back into action over the next two weeks. Colin Montgomerie is due to play in next week's Duabi Desert Classic, and Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood make their first competitive appearances of the season in this week's Malaysian Open which is yet another co-sanctioned event, this time bringing together the European PGA and the Asian PGA.

Clarke, whose last appearance in Europe brought victory in the season-ending Volvo Masters in November, a win which elevated him to number two in the 1998 European moneylist, is using the Malaysian event as the springboard to his season. He plans to play next week in Dubai but will miss out on Qatar in order to travel out to the west coast of the United States where he will play in the Andersen Consulting matchplay championship in Carlsbad at the end of the month, the first event in the world golf championship.

The Malaysian Open - which is new to the European calendar - is a familiar tournament for both Westwood and Clarke. Westwood won the championship two years ago, when it wasn't part of the European schedule, and Clarke finished second on that occasion; and the Englishman was beaten in a play-off for the title last year. Westwood is also attached to the Saujana club as their touring professional, so he is very familiar with the course.

Clarke is one of four Irishmen in the field. Padraig Harrington, who made a sluggish start to his season in Perth last week, should be the better for four competitive rounds, while John McHenry, who has yet to make a cut, continues his globetrotting by playing on his third continent inside a month. The quartet is completed by Paul McGinley's return to action after deciding to miss out on the long haul to Australia.

This week should also see Clarke improve on his world ranking and possibly become the highest ranked Irish player of all time. He is currently in 16th place in the world rankings, equal to Ronan Rafferty's highest placing in 1989 - but, even without playing last week, yesterday's updated version saw Clarke narrow the gap on the player immediately in front of him, Australia's Steve Elkington, to only .03 and with every possibility of further improvement this week.

Although four Irishmen play in the Malaysian Open this week, a compatriot who is committed to the Asian Tour has failed to gain entry. Peter Lawrie made his debut appearance on the Asian circuit in last week's London Myanmar Open in Yangon where he was joint leader after the first round. However, the former Irish amateur champion added rounds of 72-70-72 to his opening 67 for a seven under par total of 281 which left him in tied-19th position and with prteur champion added rounds of 72-70-72 to his opening 67 for a seven under par total of 281 which left him in tied-19th position and with prizemoney of $2,344. The tournament was won by Taiwan's Wang Ter-chang.

Meanwhile, Rocco Mediate's win in the Phoenix Open brought him back in from the wilderness. Two years ago, when plagued by back injuries and still unsure if surgery carried out on his spine in 1994 would be a success, Mediate actually considered retiring. However, his perseverance was repaid with a win that came almost five years after his last success, in the Greater Greensboro Open, when he became the first player to win a US Tour event using the broomhandle putter.

Mediate's career went into freefall the following year when he underwent surgery on the disc that controls a golfer's rotation during the swing and he made only eight cuts in that 1995 season. But he was given a special medical exemption for 1996 and made the most of it by winning back his card, and his win on Sunday - proving wrong the heckler on the 13th tee who prophesied that he would "fold like a cheap suit" - pretty much concluded the journey back to full fitness.