Chubby calls the shots for Irish pair

A bit like a psychiatrist with his patients, the golf manager must also make targets, and renew them, for those in his care. Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, who includes Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley in his stable, isn't afraid to reach for the sky and he has upped the ante for his players in the season ahead.

Not content to let them sit on their laurels, Chandler has laid out specific plans of campaign for his men. Ironically, Clarke and McGinley are due to move into new houses close to each other in Sunningdale later this month; but the pair have been issued with separate instructions, and priorities, for 1998. In contrast to last year when Clarke made an early start to his competitive season in an attempt (successfully) to ensure his Ryder Cup place, he'll be making a later start - building up to his debut US Masters appearance - and then easing off before, hopefully, peaking again for the second part of the season.

Indeed, an indication of Clarke's rising stature can be gauged from his off-course endorsements. Clarke will actually spend today in Italy, finalising a clothing deal with Conte of Florence, and he also has an existing deal to play MacGregor clubs. Also, a club attachment with a course in Ireland is expected to be confirmed shortly.

"My aim for Darren this season is for him to put himself in a position to win the European Tour money list," says Chandler. "I've issued a directive to Darren that he needs to concentrate on his short game and his attitude more, rather than whacking balls on the range all day. The only person who will stop Darren Clarke being a really great player is Darren Clarke himself. I'm not being disparaging when I say that. He is a great player already, but he can be even better. Darren's got to turn good performances into wins.

"I feel he is too hard on himself. He's not comfortable yet with the status he has in the game, and he's not as confident as he should be," adds Chandler. "He took a lot longer to get over not winning the British Open than he or I thought, but hopefully he'll have another chance quickly to win a major and I'd be very surprised if he didn't win the British Open in his lifetime."

Clarke's first competitive appearance on the European Tour won't be until the Dubai Desert Classic on February 26th-March 1st (although he will warm up by playing in the Malaysian Open the previous week) and he will then play in the Qatar Open the following week. He intends to play around 11 tournaments on the US Tour this season and, although he has yet to receive an invitation, Clarke intends to start that particular programme by playing in the Bay Hill Invitational on March 19th-22nd. The Irishman will then play in the Tournament Players' Championship at Sawgrass (which is now almost considered a fifth major) before taking a week off to prepare for Augusta National. The plan is for Clarke to follow the same routine as his stablemate Lee Westwood did last year by spending four days at Chateau Elan in Atlanta, where the greens have a speed of 12 on the stimpmeter, before arriving in Augusta on the Friday preceding the tournament. The week following the Masters, Clarke will play in the MCI at Hilton Head - "a great course that suits his game," insists Chandler - and his next appearance after that will be back on the European Tour at the Italian Open. He plans to take a week off before the Benson and Hedges International on May 14th-17th sparks a four-week stint that takes in the Volvo PGA, the TPC of Europe and the English Open.

Then, it is back across the Atlantic to prepare for the US Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. Clarke intends to keep the week before the year's second major free. "One thing we learned from last year is that is not feasible to arrive out there on Monday tea-time. You simply don't have sufficient time to get over the jet-lag and Darren expects to play perfect golf all the time," remarks Chandler.

Clarke's season will then switch back across to Europe for the Murphy's Irish Open, the Loch Lomond Invitational and the British Open - at Royal Birkdale, where he intends to play a few rounds whenever he has time to spare during the season - and, at this stage, his schedule is pretty well mapped out.

In contrast, McGinley's is more fluid. Two years ago, Chandler set a target for Clarke to get into the top 50 in the world rankings and, at 35, he has achieved that comfortably. McGinley is now in the position of having to break that barrier if he is to get into the "World Tour" events in 1999, which will be confined to that elite group.

As such, it is important for McGinley to get as many ranking points as possible this season and he is wasting no time in setting about the task. He will start his competitive play next week in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand and travel on to play in the Heineken Classic in Perth.

McGinley, who received no world ranking points for his World Cup triumph in partnership with Padraig Harrington, is placed 103rd in the rankings as he heads into the 1998 season. Chandler believes that the Dubliner can carry on the way he finished last season.

"Winning the Irish PGA title was an important step for Paul. It was the first time he had won from the front and, after that, he won his second European Tour event in the Oki in Spain. "I'd always told him I'd be present when he won his next tournament and, that Sunday, I arrived in Madrid and he said: `Funny, I thought you'd be coming out today'. His win with Padraig in the World Cup was a result from the Oki and he is now playing his golf with a new confidence and composure," says Chandler.

Last season was good for Chubby's men; the season ahead looks as if it will be every bit as fruitful.