Player has weighty advice for Clarke

When Gary Player made his only Irish Open appearance at Portmarnock in 1976, he held court in the press centre and pronounced on all manner of golfing matters. One of his observations was: "You obviously have very talented professionals here in Ireland."

Suitably appreciative, we were eager to hear more. Whereupon Player added acidly: "Because I don't see any of them on the practice ground."

Twenty two years on, his partner in the third round of the US Masters at Augusta National was a very talented Irish professional, who happens to spend quite a lot of time practising his craft. But even after Darren Clarke had shot a brilliant third round of 67, Player still found fault.

"I was really impressed with Darren and his eagle at the 13th (three-wood, three-wood and 12foot putt) was one of the best I've ever seen there," said the South African. "This man can play." Then came the sting as Player added: "I told him he had to get rid of that tummy. I told him he has to get fitter, by dieting and working out, just as I do."

Player is an interview waiting to happen. So it was that instead of making a bee-line for the sanctuary of the locker-room as most of the prominent competitors tended to do, he sauntered from the recorder's tent beside the 18th green to the clubhouse lawn, ready to talk to anybody with a microphone or a note-book.

Still, he had been generously supportive of Clarke, who happens to be an honorary member at Royal Portrush where Player won the British Senior Open last July for his ninth "major" title in senior ranks. This matched his nine premier majors - three British Opens, three US Masters, two USPGA Championships and a lone US Open triumph.

"When that eagle putt went in on the 15th, Gary turned to me and remarked `don't worry son, it's in the hole'. " said Clarke. That was a reference to the second eagle in Clarke's homeward journey of 31 and the fact that it resulted from an outrageous, downhill putt that went crashing against the flagstick and into the hole.

A two-iron approach shot of 221 yards was pushed over the bunker guarding the front right of this treacherous green and the ball came to rest about four or five feet into the fringe off the putting surface. From there, it was downhill all the way.

I attempted to count Clarke's paces as he walked towards the hole, so as to get a rough estimate of the distance. But he stopped so many times to acknowledge the cheering of the galleries that it became impossible.

Remembering that the record longest putt in an Augusta Masters was an effort of 100 feet by Nick Faldo at the long second, I wondered if Clarke had surpassed that distance. "I'm afraid not," said the resident professional Bob Kletcke yesterday. "The 15th green is 100 feet wide and we estimate Darren's putt was between 85 and 90 feet."

But Clarke had the satisfaction of shooting the lowest round by an Irishman in the Masters. Of the 26 tournaments rounds played by Joe Carr (10), Christy O'Connor Jnr (2), Garth McGimpsey (4), Ronan Rafferty (6) and David Feherty (4) here, Rafferty was the only player to break 70, with a third round of 69 in 1990.

As might be expected, Player was rich in praise of Royal Portrush which has been so good to him. "There isn't a weak hole on it, whereas this place has one," he said. He identified the long eighth ("it's a lousy hole") as a flaw in the Augusta layout.

Then, returning to Clarke and for the benefit of his American audience, Player borrowed language straight out of Finian's Rainbow. "As we walked off the 18th, Darren turned to me and remarked `Gary, I was trying to equal the record back-nine of turty (sic) which you did when winning here in 1978', " he said.

Yet for all that, the South African had reason to be proud of his performance here, even if Clarke happened to outscore him by 11 strokes on Saturday. At 62 years and five months, he became the oldest competitor to make the cut in the Masters, surpassing the achievement of Sam Snead (61 years and 10 months) in 1974.

"People used to tell me that I wouldn't be playing at the age of 40 because I would be too big and too tight, from lifting weights," he said. "Now, you have these travelling gyms with all this equipment so that players can work out and keep in shape."

Listening to him talking about his health, one got the distinct impression that he will sue God if he doesn't live to be 100 - at least. But the fitness regime seems to have worked. He remains the last competitor to win three successive tournaments on the American Tour, which he did in 1978 when he followed his Masters triumph with victories in the Tournament of Champions and the Houston Open.

Standing 5ft 7ins and weighing 10st 7lb, he also claims to be considerably lighter now than he was 12 years ago. "When I reached 50, I made a decision to lose one pound each year," he said. "And I'm 10lb lighter now than I was then."

It was only on reflection that one realised how little Clarke had said in comparison with his celebrated partner. The quality of his scoring, however, spoke volumes for his growing confidence since arriving here on April 3rd, almost a week before the tournament started.

"I believe I can do really well on this course in future years," he said. "I like the way it's set up; the way it rewards brave shots and tests every part of your game, particularly putting."

A reflection of that confidence was his execution of the deceptively dangerous 17th, which had cost him a seven in his opening round. With the pin tucked into the back-left corner, 22 yards from the front and sloping down to the back fringe only four yards away, Clarke hit a wedge approach with such purity that he actually stopped the ball on the slope - and made the 12-foot putt for a birdie.

As Player observed sagely: "Memories are the cushions of life." If so, Clarke acquired sufficient comfort here on Saturday, to sustain him well into the future.