Clarke just needs the putts to fall

German Masters

Lifted by his arch-rivals' lack of upward thrust last week in the Lancome Trophy, Darren Clarke goes into the Linde German Masters, which starts today in Cologne, looking for four good breaks.

Because Order of Merit leader Lee Westwood slumped to last place in France last Sunday night, and third-placed Colin Montgomerie allowed second place to turn into tied 11th, Clarke lost little ground to his chief foes by taking a week off.

With three events to go, he is still only £9,584 behind West wood, who decided to play this week's event at the new, table-top-flat Jack Nicklaus course after all.

Monty's indifferent finish in Versailles kept the five-time European number one £12,650 behind Clarke, but with £166,000 on offer for first prize here, any one of the three could build a sizeable lead if they win the tournament.

Said Clarke: "Of course I don't want to wish any of my rivals the worst, and I really mean that. But it was fortunate that nobody made a big move on me last week." The Portmarnock Links professional makes no bones nowadays over showing his desire to win this year's Order of Merit title and then exploit all the advantages that go with it: the four majors, 10-year exemption and a significant climb up the world rankings.

And after his chief protagonists' decline last week, Clarke, even with a week off, is the man in form of the leading trio. But Clarke still needs a break on all four days of this event, and that break is needed on the greens.

"I want to keep playing the way I've been playing for the last couple of months, especially the last four tournaments. I've been hitting the ball the best all season. "The putting statistics are letting me down, though. Not putting bad, just the ball not running for me. I've been lipping out, getting more horse-shoeing out than I can remember.

"I just need a few breaks and things can go the right way." And if they do, he will even consider taking a precious week off. That will be next week, even though the Knokke le Zout course in Belgium is where he clinched his first European Tour win.

Added Clarke: "It's a great course and obviously suited me. So it will all depend if I do very well this week whether I take next week off. Last week wasn't like a week off because everything was so chaotic, so I still need a bit of break."

Last week's chaos came from moving back into his new home, but he did have time for a few hours' relaxation. That came on the Inverness course of Skibo Castle, which he opened last Saturday morning.

"I played with my wife, Heather, against the Chandlers (his manager and wife) and we shot a gross 49 for nine holes to beat them. Heather's only just started playing and she's showing great promise!"

Six Irish players are in the line-up, matched against a strong field which includes defending champion Bernhard Langer, who shot 60 in the third round to win his 10th German title last year; the US PGA champion Vijay Singh; two fellow US Tour pros, Scott Hoch and Brad Faxon, and the rejuvenated Nick Faldo.

With Clarke are Paul McGinley, playing-partners Padraig Harrington and Philip Walton, Eamonn Darcy and Raymond Burns, the latter coming in from reserve for the penultimate throw of the dice in his bid to retain his Tour card.