Maturity brings out the best

At first, it was the powerful build, the blond highlights in his hair and a sinister-looking, blackclad caddie by his side, which caught the attention. But soon, these elements became very much secondary to a prodigious talent which gained expression on such celebrated terrain as Royal Portrush, Co Sligo, Lahinch and Baltray.

By August 1990, when Darren Clarke beat Padraig Harrington in the final of the Irish Close Championship at Baltray, he felt he had nothing further to prove in amateur ranks. That was when he met Andrew "Chubby" Chandler, a former European Tour player who was in the process of forming a management company.

"When I saw Darren, I realised immediately that I if I signed him, I would always have a business," said Chandler. Now, his International Sports Management group is to the forefront of the European scene, listing among its clients Ryder Cup players Lee Westwood and Andrew Coltart, along with Paul McGinley and David Howell among others.

Clarke's move to professional ranks at that time was a major disappointment to his many admirers in the amateur game. He was seen as a logical choice for the British and Irish side in the Walker Cup at Portmarnock the following year. But after a dominant 1990 season in which he captured the Spanish Amateur, North of Ireland, South of Ireland and Irish Close matchplay titles, it was difficult to argue against his desire to move on.

The tremendous talent which Chandler observed, however, served only to have him labelled as one of golf's great underachievers - until this weekend. And it was an aspect of Clarke's which Colin Montgomerie observed as far back at 1993, by which stage Clarke had only the Belgian Open to his credit after three full seasons on tour.

At Valderrama, Clarke was on the Volvo Masters presentation podium for the first time, claiming the runners-up cheque. Beside him was Montgomerie, who won the tournament to capture his first of seven Vardon Trophies as leader of the Order of Merit.

For Clarke, it marked a breakthrough into the top-10 of the merit table where he had risen from 112th to 41st and to eighth, in three seasons. But Montgomerie had serious reservations.

Looking across at Clarke, the Scot said to an interviewer: "He's good. He's very, very good. He has as much talent as anyone in world golf." But then he added pointedly: "He's got to learn to use it."

Three years later, with Clarke's tournament career apparently stuck in a rut, Montgomerie interjected once more. This time his public prodding caused Clarke to bristle: the Scot again labelled his gifted rival as an under-achiever.

On this occasion, however, the response was dramatic. Only a few weeks later, Clarke shot a final round of 63 at the Berliner club to win the German Masters for his second triumph on tour. It became a significant step on the road to Ryder Cup honours a year later at Valderrama where, almost predictably, Montgomerie again loomed large in his fortunes.

Bitterly resentful towards skipper Seve Ballesteros over being left out of the opening day's play, Clarke's morale was given an extremely timely lift when he partnered Montgomerie at the top of the Europe's Saturday order to a one-hole fourball victory over Fred Couples and Davis Love.

Against that background, it is fascinating that Clarke should have been sharing the fairways with Montgomerie when his next European triumph came in May 1998. This was in the Benson and Hedges International at the Oxfordshire, where he shot a closing 67 to beat the Scot into a share of fifth place.

Remarkably, their paths crossed once more at Hanbury Manor last June. In the meantime, leading observers could see that, through admirable application to his craft, Clarke had developed into one of the game's finest strikers of the ball.

Still, his potential remained stifled, somewhat, by perfectionism, which can be the sportsman's most crippling affliction. Any time he failed to perform as he felt he should, the red mist would descend, leaving Clarke totally at odds not only with himself but with everybody unfortunate enough to be close to him at the time.

Through bitter experience, he was forced to become a fully paid-up subscriber to the Bobby Jones notion that the most important inches in golf are those between a player's two ears. Which prompted him to admit: "There's always been one major piece missing and that's been my attitude. It's been the main thing that's been holding me back."

All of which is to overlook a remarkably caring side to the man. Like in September 1998 when, as a response to the devastation of the Omagh bomb, he single-handedly set up a pro-am event at Portmarnock Links which raised more than £350,000 for the victims.

"I honestly think Darren is eventually growing up," said Chandler here this weekend. "He's as calm as I've ever seen in a tournament situation. Some sportsmen take a lot longer to mature than others and perhaps now, at the ripe old age of 31, Darren is set to have his best years."