Darren’s Back In The Swing
Darren Clarke may have been disappointed by his finish a Bay Hill - a double bogey on the last left a bitter taste - but it was a very heartening performance with two big weeks coming up.

For me, it was the first time Darren struck the ball anything like he did last year… and that’s a good sign that he is becoming accustomed to his weight loss.

Almost three stone has been shed and it takes some getting used to so his 6th place finish in Arnold Palmer’s tournament, over a course he hasn’t particularly excelled over in the past, was a welcome confidence booster with TYPC and The Masters just round the corner.

Lee Westwood couldn’t quite finish high enough to earn an exemption to those two tournaments, but his game is in pretty good shape and he still has three Majors to look forward to this season.

The season proper is just about to start now and I expect all our boys, at their respective levels, to give a very good account of themselves over the coming months.

I’m in America now, but I broke my journey here with a little detour to the West Indies where I had dinner with England skipper Michael Vaughan, all-rounder Freddie Flintoff and fast bowling sensation Steve Harmison.

Despite all the publicity and wickets, Steve remains a very down-to-earth character and I’m sure fame won’t go to his head. They were about to go two-nil up in the Series when I had to leave for Sawgrass and the TPC where Darren will be joined by Paul Casey in the ISM side there.