EUROPEAN TOUR: What goes on between a sports psychologist and his client invariably remains private but, to be sure, it would have been interesting to be a fly on the wall these past two days when Dr Bob Rotella and Darren Clarke conducted an intensive session - instigated by the American psychologist - which will act as a springboard to some of the busiest weeks in the Irishman's season.

The request for the two-day meeting in Florida came from Rotella in a hand-written letter that ran to five foolscap pages and which was sent to the offices of Clarke's management company ISM in England before Christmas.

"Whatever happens between the two could define Darren's season," insisted his manager Chubby Chandler, who believes Clarke has rediscovered the "fire in his belly" that has seen him win nine times on the PGA European Tour.

Ironically, it is on the US circuit that the results of the sessions with Rotella will first be garnered. Having decided to withdraw from the Qatar Masters, Clarke rejigged his tournament schedule and will now play three of the next four weeks on the US Tour, starting with this week's Bay Hill Invitational where Tiger Woods will be seeking a fourth-straight win in the event.

Clarke's revised schedule will see him play the Bay Hill Championship this week, followed by the Players' Championship at Sawgrass and, after a week off, he will play the US Masters. Apart from the meetings with Rotella, Clarke heads to Bay Hill with the momentum of finishing his last tournament, the Dubai Desert Classic, with a string of six successive birdies.

Bay Hill, for some reason, has not proven to be a kind venue for Clarke in the past.

"I don't know why it is," he said, "but I've never managed to play well there. It's something of a mystery to me, because it is a course that should suit my game."

In three previous appearances in Bay Hill, Clarke has only managed to make the cut once - in 2000, when he finished in tied-42nd position. In 1999 and again in 2001, he missed the cut.

Although he has slipped to 23rd in the world rankings, Clarke's appearances so far this year have reaped two top-10 finishes - in the Los Angeles Open and the Accenture World Matchplay, while he was only a shot out of such a finish in the Dubai Desert Classic - and one of his targets is to get back into the world's top 10.

Someone else seeking an upward movement in the world rankings is Paul McGinley, and his third-place finish in the Qatar Masters has at least stemmed his free-fall and got him moving in the right direction again. McGinley had fallen to 123rd in the world rankings before teeing up in Qatar but, in yesterday's latest rankings, had moved back up to 103rd. Sadly for McGinley, he doesn't get into the Players or the Masters this year - a consequence of his lower ranking - and he won't play again until the Canaries Open on April 24th-27th.

Padraig Harrington's break is much shorter. The Dubliner plans to spend a little time with coach Bob Torrance in Largs, Scotland, later this week before following Clarke to the US for a stint of three tournaments that will start with the Players, followed by the BellSouth Classic in Atlanta and end with the US Masters. Harrington remains at 10th in the latest world rankings.

While Clarke and Harrington pursue the big bucks on the US circuit for the better part of the next month, it is a long way from this week's Madeira Island Open which offers one of the smallest purses on the European Tour.

Yet, for one Irishman, it represents the chance to regenerate his career. Philip Walton, the hero of the Ryder Cup in 1995, but who is without a card on the European Tour, has been given a sponsor's invite to play in the tournament where he will be joined by Peter Lawrie, Gary Murphy, Damien McGrane, Stephen Browne and Gary Cullen.

The European Seniors Tour makes its seasonal start this week with the Jamaican Classic, with four Irish players in the field: Christy O'Connor Jnr, Denis O'Sullivan, Eddie Polland and Joe McDermott. The opening event in Jamaica kicks off the extended "Caribbean Swing" which features the fourth staging of the Royal Westmoreland Barbados Open and the second Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic.

The Seniors Tour hits Europe from May 16th-18th for the AIB Irish Seniors Open, which returns to Adare Manor where Japan's Seiji Ebihara will attempt to become the first player to win a hat-trick of titles on the tour. Ebihara followed his win in Limerick last year with two more victories on his way to topping the Seniors Tour Order of Merit with record earnings of €330,210.

Irish positions on European Tour Order of Merit: 4, P Harrington €350,267; 11, D Clarke €216,593; 23, P McGinley €124,856; 80, P Lawrie €37,422; 90, G Murphy €30,865; 168, D McGrane €10,214; 191, G McDowell €6,314.