IRELAND'S top men last week, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, proved to be the players in form again as they produced gritty first rounds at The Vines near Perth yesterday to hover on the lower half of the Heineken Classic leaderboard.
Both shot two under par 70s and both admitted their scores were something of a scramble. But the two Irish Ryder Cup hopefuls are again in with a chance of a good points haul at the end of the week after finishing yesterday only five strokes off Greg Turner's lead.
New Zealander Turner's legendary cricketing brother Glenn would have appreciated the nuances and quirks of the afternoon's "Fremantle Doctor" wind, which blew up much stronger than in the morning, as he would have often faced the veering gusts at the WACA Test ground not far away from The Vines course. This time it was his younger brother who mastered it, carding a 65 to equal the course record and slip one stroke in front of compatriot Frank Nobilo.
Harrington, David Higgins and Ronan Rafferty, who shot 71s, and Paul McGinley, last year's runner up to Ian Woosnam, with 72, can take advantage of a morning round today without the "Doctor" which tends to come off the sea in the afternoon. For Raymond Burns, though, there might be no immediate cure for a round of 79.
Clarke has to wait until this afternoon before beginning his fight to catch the leaders and build on his first round as he aims to stay third, at least, in the Ryder Cup points table by Sunday night. His concern, though, will not be with the veering breeze but with a variance in swing which one moment allows him to play the sort of supreme shot which earned him the German Masters title late last year and the next leaves him chuckling with embarrassment.
"It was a real mixed bag," admitted Clarke, before going off for a lengthy afternoon practice session. "Some of my shots were very average indeed, so I have to be delighted with a 70. If you can shoot that score with some of the shots I played, it proves you've done the necessary."
