And Ulsterman Clarke is banking on Hampson to work the same kind of magic with him at events around the world after previous short-lived attempts to get into shape.

“Steve is my new personal trainer and will travel with me. This is his first week,” said Clarke, who admitted his fitness let him down at the US Masters this year.

Leading after a first-round 66, he had to play upwards of 27 holes in a day after rain delays and that caught up with Clarke and saw him slide down the field.

“He has worked with a lot of people, primarily Andrew Flintoff, and he got him in really good shape, and the opportunity arose that he would be able to travel with me as much as I wanted him to.

“It is something that I need to do. I have threatened to do it but somehow never found the time to do it properly. All the guys who are in the top 10 in the world are fit so it is about time that I addressed that area.

“A lot of the time I am fine but there are times now and again when I am not and it is the now and agains that I can’t afford.

“It was something I wanted to do myself. I have made a lot of changes in the other areas of my game and this is just another part of it that I need to address.”

Clarke currently lies second in the Order of Merit after his superb win in the NEC Invitational last month but knows he still has to perform well in the lucrative events coming up to have a chance of overhauling leader Ernie Els.

“I am still a long way behind Ernie so I have to play very well, but I’m sure he is going to play very well in the tournaments he has left,” said Clarke ahead of his first round in the Linde German Masters in Cologne today.

“I have to play exceptionally well to get a chance to catch him but there is this week, the Dunhill, Amex, Volvo Masters – there is a lot of prize money there to play for.

“But I would expect Ernie to play well in the tournament he is playing in too, so we will see.”