Slimline Clarke to focus on his belly

European Open Countdown: All around the salubrious interior of the new €15 million clubhouse at what is now called the Smurfit Course at The K Club, there are framed photographs of major champions.

In the Deacon Room, there are numerous personal photos given to the club by the course designer, Arnold Palmer, and, elsewhere in the building, there are pictures of other major winners, among them Tiger Woods and, of a more recent vintage, Phil Mickelson.

It is in such company that Darren Clarke aspires to belong, and why he has finally decided the time has come for a more radical approach to putting.

So it is that Clarke, now ranked 15th in the world, will finally put aside any misgivings he has had about using a belly putter in competition. In this week's Smurfit European Open over the impressive new course in Straffan, Clarke - who won this title in 2001 when it was played over the Palmer Course, where the 2006 Ryder Cup will be staged - will use a belly putter that has been languishing in his garage for the best part of four months.

Very much a traditionalist of the game, Clarke, who as recently as the TPC of Europe in Heidelberg last month insisted he had no plans to adopt the belly putter so beloved by, among others, Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie, had decided that it could provide the answer to his perceived limitations in getting the ball into the hole in tournament play.

Just over a week ago, Clarke departed Shinnecock Hills having missed the cut in the US Open (the second major of the season where he had failed to survive the cut, having suffered a similar fate at the Masters). He got back to his Surrey home on the Saturday morning and, by noon, had arrived on the putting green at the exclusive Queenwood facility with "about 70 putters". He was to spend five hours on the green, and finally decided that the belly putter would be given a chance.

"It's the same type of putter that Vijay uses," explained Clarke, one of the early arrivals at The K Club yesterday where he played 18 holes over the new layout. "I got it at La Costa earlier this year (during the Accenture matchplay where he was beaten in the semi-finals by Davis Love) and I half-considered using it then. But I brought it home and it was sitting in my garage until I got back from Shinnecock Hills."

Clarke has decided to use the belly putter with his "left hand below right" which, he said, "is a complete change (for me)."

A number of years ago, Clarke "messed about" with the belly putter for a couple of weeks, but it was the disappointment of missing so many putts from "four, six, eight feet" at the US Open that finally led him to believe he needed to change his approach.

"I've said in the past that I don't agree with belly putters," he said, "and I still don't agree with them, but . . .

"The reason I brought it out is to have a complete change and a complete new start with it."

The crux came after Shinnecock Hills. "I was struggling on the greens and it's not much fun when you're struggling on the greens. Everyone was missing greens there, but when you're chipping up, and getting to six feet is a good chip there, but you keep missing them, it's frustrating," explained Clarke. "If you keep on missing them, it's a frustrating game."

At the time, when he was leaving Shinnecock, Clarke said he was "pretty perturbed" with the state of his game.

However, time at home has helped him to re-energise for one of the most hectic and potentially fulfilling periods of the season, with this week's European Open followed by the Scottish Open next week and then the British Open at Royal Troon.

Off the course, Clarke had a bit of luck when one of his horses, Tequila Sheila, won a race at odds of 16 to 1 last Thursday night - perhaps indicating a change of fortune. And he has spent a lot of time working on his short game in preparation for the tests that lie ahead.

Clarke's first impressions of the new Smurfit Course - the tournament was staged over the Palmer Course, formerly known as The North Course for the past nine years - is that it will provide "a tough test. There's a lot of undulations on the greens and it will be very tough to get near the greens if the wind blows as is forecast. Scoring will be demanding. It's going to be a very stern test for everyone this week, and that's the way it should be (for a flagship event)."

Indeed, the forecast threatens winds of 20- to 25-miles an hour for each day, gusting at times to 40 miles an hour.

Order of Merit Irish positions

5 D Clarke €860,707

9 P Harrington 771,507

10 G McDowell €738,521

24 P McGinley €383,187

83 G Murphy €135,563

85 D McGrane €130,759

93 P Lawrie €120,720

236 P Walton €9,605

238 D Higgins 9,562

267 M Hoey 4,593

280 S Browne 3,560