Birdie finish has Clarke smiling

British OpenAs everyone who earns a pay cheque by playing golf knows, the art of getting the ball into the hole is vital. "It's all about numbers," as Paul McGinley consistently asserts. So it was that Darren Clarke's flirtation with the belly-putter at The K Club just over a fortnight ago resulted in the said implement being consigned to a watery grave.

"It's probably floating down the River Liffey, or sunk at this stage," quipped Clarke yesterday when he finished the 133rd British Open in a mood that contained more smiles than grimaces.

And, probably, there was a thought of "what if" swirling around his head. For, yesterday at Royal Troon, just as in Saturday's third round, Clarke took just 26 putts - 11 of them single putts - as he finished with a closing-round 68 for two-under-par 282. No wonder he confirmed that the new Scotty Cameron putter would remain in his bag for this week's Nissan Irish Open at Baltray, where he will have his old caddie JP Fitzgerald on the bag.

"From tee to green, I hit the ball as well as I wanted to," said Clarke, "but my short game has been very weak this week, not anywhere near what I would call respectable. If it had been, I might have been able to get into contention, but unfortunately it wasn't. But, no, I don't see it as a lost chance because I wasn't up there (long enough). I'd a cold putter and I wasn't chipping it close enough and, when I made mistakes, I wasn't able to recover."

Yesterday Clarke gave more than a glimpse of his capabilities, including two hat-tricks of birdies in his round. He started his first sequence at the fourth, and then found a hot putter again coming home, securing another hat-trick from the 15th.

"Birdieing three of the last four holes around here is always pretty good; they're bogey holes more than birdies," he added.

In many ways, the wind was knocked out of Clarke with his first approach to the 18th in Thursday's first round.

"Momentum is important in any tournament but probably more so in a major. You need to get going early, and off to a good start. Coming down the 18th on Thursday I was in good shape, made a mistake and never really regained what I had . . . but it is always nice to finish a tournament with a good round and move on to another great golf course at Baltray. It's a course I've played a lot and I can't wait to get there."

Prior to teeing up in the Irish Open, Clarke will fulfil a commitment to play in the Ronan Keating Classic at the K Club today, in the aid of the Marie Keating Foundation.

For Paul McGinley, his 12th appearance in the British Open finished with a closing-round 73 for nine-over-par 293, leaving him in tied-57th position.

"Yes, it's been a disappointing week," he conceded. "I was at the top end of the field for a day and a half, and at the tail end for the other two and a half. I really missed the buzz of not playing in front of big crowds, being out so early on the final day.

"Part of the Open is about playing in one of the last groups on the last day . . . and I missed that. For 27 holes I played great, but it's a numbers game and I'm not producing the numbers."

If not in turmoil with his game - as he was at the British Open at Muirfield two years ago, a period when, he was prompted to recall yesterday, he had "six months in my career when I played really poorly and Muirfield was the culmination of it" - the Dubliner is currently a player waiting for a spark. "You come and you go (in this game), you ebb and you flow . . . and I am not flowing at the moment," said McGinley.

"I know my game is good enough, but you make your own luck and I'm not converting my chances when I get them. Then, when I hit a bad shot, I'm making bogey or worse.

"Playing at the tail end of the field has an atmosphere that's only about five per cent of what it is when you're in the thick of it. But there'll be other days. I'm looking forward to Baltray. I've played well there before, won the Irish PGA, and I think it will be a great venue."