Clarke lands softly on autopilot

Scottish Open: All the right noises were coming out of his mouth but the obvious tiredness around his eyes told a different story.

With his wife Heather at home battling the cancer that has so sadly and drastically affected his playing schedule over the past year or so, such is life at the moment for Darren Clarke, whose five-under-par 66 has him tied with the Englishman Miles Tunnicliff and one shot behind the joint-leaders, Sweden's Johan Edfors and David Drysdale of Scotland, after the opening round of the Scottish Open.

That the burly Ulsterman should find himself looking down on most of the field after 18 holes is perhaps no great surprise. One of the most naturally gifted members of the European Tour, Clarke is better equipped than many to perform at a decent level, even when golf is so far down his personal priority list. And such is his understandable preoccupation with his wife's health, he must surely have been one of the few not at least a little distracted by the natural beauty surrounding Scotland's best inland course.

Certainly Clarke did not seem bothered one way or the other by such a splendid score, the result of a round that contained six birdies and only 24 putts. Asked how he is able to stay focused on the course with so much going on around him, Clarke's indifferent response was indicative of his state of mind.

"I'm not sure I've got much concentration," he shrugged. "Mentally I'm not quite there, making a few silly mistakes. So you're asking the wrong person. I think I'm on autopilot."

Still, one round, however brilliant, is rarely enough to guarantee victory, something Clarke most recently achieved late last year in Japan. Since then his sporadic appearances have been notable mainly for a marked propensity to perform poorly in the final round, which he did only last week at the European Open at The K club. Tied for third with 18 holes to play, he subsided to equal 15th with a spluttering 76.

"Come Sunday I seem to try that bit harder and force things rather than just letting them happen," he said. "My last-day scoring average this year is very, very high, which is totally out of character. Mentally I'm just not there, making a few silly mistakes. Last week was very disappointing and typical, too. I can have all the excuses and all the reasons why, but still there's a lot of disappointment when I do play poorly. And, unfortunately, there's been quite a few Sundays this year when I've done that."

As for the leaders Edfors, a Roger Federer lookalike whose eccentric hippy-style mode of dress matches the unorthodoxy of his lurching swing and the inconsistency of his play since adding the British Masters title to the TCL Classic he won in China this season, made his score in a fashion similar to Clarke.

Out in four-under par, the 30-year old played the tougher back nine in two under the card. "I was really tired after winning for the second time," he said by way of explanation for his subsequent five-week absence from the tour. I needed a break to be fresh for all the big events we have coming up."

Drysdale (31), who made it into the field only by way of a sponsor's invitation, owned up to feeling some extra tension and was pleasantly surprised at his score, the result of some fine putting. "It's strange, I get very nervous playing in Scotland," he admitted. "But it does seem to make me play better somehow."

Among a sizeable group bunched two behind the leaders is Jose Maria Olazabal. The Spaniard toured in the company of Clarke and Colin Montgomerie and matched the former's 24 putts which was nine fewer than the stomping Scot, who shot a 72. "My game is just a little bit off," said Olazabal. "I need to improve my game from tee to green. But the putting was very, very good."

Paul McGinley continued where he left off last week with a solid two-under-par 69 while David Higgins, Michael Hoey and Graeme McDowell are together on 71. Peter Lawrie has some work to do after a 74 and Gary Murphy is a shot further back on 75.

Guardian Service