Clarke goes from 'fed up' to brink of title
Three days ago Darren Clarke described his golf as “horrific”, but today he takes a two-shot lead into the delayed final round of the Nissan Irish Open.
Clarke insisted he was “fed up” with the state of his game after his second round at Carton House, but he added a 67 on Saturday to lie just one shot off the lead.
The Ulsterman had moved two clear of the field with birdies at the first and eighth holes before heavy rain forced play to be suspended midway through the final round on Sunday.
With parts of the Colin Montgomerie-designed course under water, no further play was possible and the decision was taken to extend the €2.2m event into a fifth day.
Tournament officials hope to resume play at 9.15am with around three hours of play to be completed.
In the event of more bad weather, the tournament could still be reduced to 54 holes, with a play-off taking place between third-round leaders Paul Casey, Thomas Bjorn and Anthony Wall.
That would obviously not be a popular decision with Clarke in the lead – John O’Leary was the last Irish winner of the title in 1982.
Casey, Ross Fisher and Sweden’s Peter Hedblom currently share second place on four-under with Bjorn another shot back.
Tournament director David Probyn was quick to insist Clarke’s position was irrelevant – “It takes no part in the decision-making from our perspective” - but admitted not all the players were happy with the decision to play on Monday.
When asked how the announcement was received in the players’ lounge, Probyn added: “I heard a couple of ‘good decisions’, and saw a few shakes of heads. Everyone has a different perspective depending on their position in the tournament.
“A couple of people have spoken to me about withdrawing. There is a fine in the (rule) book, but whether that would be applied I can’t say.
“There is a very strong feeling that some of the guys want to finish this in style tomorrow morning.”
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