Clarke snaps out of slump, fires 65 in third round

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

AKRON, Ohio -- Darren Clarke needed an attitude adjustment. And no, not the kind the Northern Irishman would find in his local pub, either.

But Clarke dearly wants to make the European Ryder Cup team for the sixth straight time. Trouble is, he's a distant 25th on the World Points list and 33rd on the Ryder Cup Points List -- when only the top five on each automatically make the team.

He wasn't going to get the job done by missing cuts, though, and that's exactly what Clarke had done in his last three starts across the pond. So he came to Firestone Country Club to play in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational with a different approach in mind.

Franklin/Getty Images

Darren Clarke fired a 5-under 65 at Firestone on Saturday.

Darren Clarke

Through 54 holes

STATS Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 EAGLES -- -- -- BIRDIES 4 1 7 PARS 10 15 9 BOGEYS 4 2 2 DOUBLE BOGEYS -- -- -- OTHER -- -- -- DRIVING ACCURACY 64 71 64 DRIVING DISTANCE 275.5 304.5 287.0 PUTTS PER ROUND 29 29 26 PUTTS PER GIR 1.667 2.100 1.462 GREENS IN REG 67 56 72 SAND SAVES 50 100 67

"I think all summer long and probably the past three, four months I've pushed and pushed and pushed and tried too hard and practiced too hard and worked too hard," he said. "I've wanted to play too well too much, whereas now I'm sort of filled out a little bit and just play and enjoy it and see what that brings.

"I'm sure you've heard guys say before, if you try too hard sometimes it goes the opposite way, and that's what I've been doing. I've been desperate to play really well, and I couldn't quite do it."

Desperate no more, Clarke fired a 65 on Saturday to move 4 under and into contention at the final World Golf Championships event of 2008. He made seven birdies and two bogeys, the last coming when he missed the green on the final hole, or he would have been even closer to the lead.

"I actually didn't quite play so well, especially on the back nine, struggled a little bit," Clarke admitted. "But I hit it close enough and knocked a few putts in. Not big long things or anything, but just holed a few. I like this place, I've played well here before, so pretty enjoyable."

Well, indeed. Clarke won the tournament in 2003, shooting a final round 67 to edge Jonathan Kaye by a shot. The Ulsterman also won the 2000 World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship and joins Geoff Ogilvy and his good friend Tiger Woods as the only players with multiple victories in the series that brings together the best players from around the globe.

"I obviously played very well here to win, so I know the golf course," Clarke said. "It's a tough golf course. It's a tricky, tricky golf course. Today I played really well. Unfortunately I made bogey on the last, but overall I'm pretty pleased with the way I played."

Clarke hopes European Captain Nick Faldo, who is in Akron as the analyst on the CBS broadcast, agrees. He has four weeks to impress -- including next week's PGA Championship, the KLM Open and the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles -- before the team is finalized and Faldo makes his two picks the evening of August 31.

"I'm a long way out of it at the moment, and I need to show an excellent form," Clarke said. "If I do, he may consider me for a pick, and if I don't, I'll be watching it on TV like everybody else. I'm just trying to play as well as I can and we'll see what happens. ...

"Those are the facts, and that's what I have to do. If I do play well, if I do start playing well like I did today, I think I would be an addition to the team. And if I don't play well, I would not be. I would not expect a pick. I just want to play as well as I can and see where it takes me."

Clarke, who has a 10-7-3 record in his five Ryder Cup appearances, won the BMW Asian Open earlier this year -- ending a four-year victory drought. He was the emotional heart of the European Tour in 2006 in Ireland, playing just a month after losing his wife, Heather, to breast cancer.

Clarke has prospered with the putter at Firestone this week -- taking just 26 in the third round and 29 in each of the first two. He's using a wider stance and has his hands slightly higher on the putter. He birdied both par 5s on Saturday and rolled in putts of 19, 12, 12, 25, 5 and 3 for his others.

"My whole action improved, which is what I've really struggled with all year," Clarke said. "It's really good to get back onto pure greens again, as good as these are, and I start rolling in those four- or five-footers to save par. I haven't been making those this year, and that puts me on the back foot straightaway, like anybody, because it's a very difficult game mentally if you're not doing that."

Ah, those mind games again. Putting too much pressure on yourself doesn't help, either. If Clarke can keep the same mindset he had Saturday over the next five weeks, though, he just might punch his ticket to Valhalla in September.

"I pushed so hard to try and play so well," Clarke said. "I wouldn't say I'm the smartest guy in the world but it obviously wasn't working. If things don't work, you've got to sit down and take a look at it and I did that. Just go play, see where it takes me."