Clarke revels in the Open environment

The walk from the 18th green, a tiny putting surface set a good 40 feet above the fairway below, to the clubhouse at Bethpage State Park measures about 50 yards. For every one of those steps taken yesterday, Darren Clarke - the most recent winner in the field for the US Open on the Black course - was assaulted by an army of octopus arms flailing out over the crash barriers in search of an autograph, writes Philip Reid

On most occasions, he obliged, signing flags and hats and tickets for a fan club that bridged the generation gap, from adolescents with green junior practice day badges to old age pensioners with the look of envy in their eyes. The Americans like Clarke, and he likes it here. The marathon stop-start autograph session finally ended when he reached the area behind the clubhouse, where the public can only peer in and the players have a modicum of sanctuary.

His eyes twinkle, and the tanned, leather-like face carries an easy smile. A man at ease with himself. The week of a major can do different things to different players - and a measure of Clarke's feel-good factor is that a badge with the words "Be Nice to Monty" is attached to his visor. The badges are being handed out to New Yorkers by Golf Digest magazine to be nicer to the big Scot, but Clarke is wearing his as a wind-up.

Clarke is up for this, and a ninth European Tour title under his belt has only increased his confidence levels. Last week, Clarke considered withdrawing from the English Open. "Maybe I'd be better off spending a few days practising," he told his manager, Chubby Chandler. "You can't do that," responded Chandler, "every time you go to the Forest of Arden you win." Which, of course, is exactly what happened.

And, according to Chandler, one of the reasons for Clarke's win was discovering on the Friday evening, after the second round, that he would be paired with Tiger Woods for the first two rounds of the season's second major. "It's brilliant," insisted Chandler, "Tiger's the player all the top players set their sights on... and Darren is striking the ball better than anyone at the moment."

Yesterday was Clarke's first time to experience the Black course, a par 70 of 7,214 yards. "Every par four you go onto seems to be 480 or 490 yards. The greens are not quite as slopey as a lot of the courses we have played previous US Opens on but, in saying that, with the length of the holes, if you had the greens as severe as some others it would be almost impossible (to play)," remarked Clarke.

What hasn't surprised Clarke is the immaculate way that the course has been prepared. Colin Montgomerie observed that the "greens are so good you could play snooker on them," but, like most traditional US Open set-ups, it is getting to the greens in regulation that presents the challenge.

"Condition wise, it is exactly as you'd expect from a US Open course," said Clarke, adding: "Length wise, however, it is not what we are used to. It is long. And it is so severe that, if you do hit it in the rough, you have got to make sure you get it back on the fairway."

Indeed, Clarke went into the rough on a couple of occasions in a practice round played with Montgomerie (the Scot's one and only practice round because of fears about his back), Thomas Bjorn and David Howell and found that all he could do was advance it 70 yards "at the best of times." He added: "If the ball goes into the rough, you've no option but to make sure you get it back onto the fairway and you're still left going into the flag with a four or five iron."

While Clarke was among the early starters on the course yesterday, the two other Irish players in the field - Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley - decided on a late afternoon tee-off. The policy decision was double edged: one, it gave them an opportunity to experience the course in afternoon conditions but, secondly, and more importantly for them, it gave them a chance to watch Ireland's World Cup match on television.

Harrington, in fact, was so confident that Ireland would advance to the last 16 that he placed a bet with Sergio Garcia on Monday evening that they would beat Spain in the showdown, and McGinley - an avid soccer fan and a season ticket holder at West Ham and Celtic - was particularly impressed with the team's progress.

"After the shenanigans before it started, it is all credit to them that they've managed to get out of the group. I don't think Ireland played their best, but they did what they had to do and got a result. That's what matters." McGinley's only previous US Open appearance came in the 1997 championship at Congressional - when he missed the cut - and he comes into this week with a self-assessment of a golf game that is "not as good as it should be."

The reason? " I don't know. There is nothing specifically wrong. All I can do is put it down to the form of professional golfers. Form is fickle. Sometimes it comes, and sometimes it goes." said McGinley.