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Widower Clarke ready for Cup action

Darren Clarke, right, greets Chris DiMarco of the US Ryder Cup golf team as both teams take part in the first practice day for the Ryder Cup competition at the K Club in County Kildare, the Republic of Ireland, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

The shiny gold trophy sat on the table, and Ian Woosnam wasn't sure whether to take it with him.

Standing to leave his news conference on Monday at The K Club, the European team captain clutched it in his right hand and was headed out the door when he walked past Darren Clarke and instinctively handed him the Ryder Cup.

For all the emotions swirling around Clarke in the five weeks since his wife died, it was a reminder why he is here.

Clarke, whose wife Heather died of cancer last month, is confident he will not be distracted by emotion at this week's Ryder Cup.

The 38-year-old Ulsterman says he thought "long and hard" about whether to play and believes he will be an asset to holders Europe in his fifth Cup appearance.

"I won't be any more nervous than I have been in my previous four Ryder Cups," Clarke told a news conference at the K Club on Monday.

"Yes, the emotional side of things will play a factor but, when the golf starts, we're back in the business of playing. And hopefully I'm playing the way I want to play and help the team," he said.

"I did think long and hard about whether I should be here this week and I came to the conclusion that I would help the team and benefit the team if I was here. There are bound to be a few difficult moments," added Clarke,

"A lot of people understand the position I'm in," Clarke said. "I've had a very emotional time of late. But as soon as the bell goes, I'm there to play golf, and I'm going to try to play as best I can. And hopefully, my best will be enough to earn some points for the team."

Clarke contributed to Europe's landslide victory last time in the Ryder Cup, a festive occasion.

Two weeks after returning home from Oakland Hills, however, he learned that breast cancer had returned to his wife, Heather, and quickly spread through her body. She urged him to keep playing, even as her condition worsened.

A year ago at the BMW Championship at Wentworth, players and their wives were in tears to hear that Heather had suffered another setback and wasn't expected to live more than a week. Clarke always called her a fighter, and that much was clear.

She rallied time and again, strong enough to join him in the Bahamas the week before the Masters. But after Clarke opened with a 68 in the Houston Open a few weeks later, he withdrew to fly home to London when she took another turn for the worse.

Finally, he called it quits after missing the cut at the British Open, wanting to spend as much time as he could with his family.

"We went on a family holiday," he said. "We went to Greece for a day, and didn't like that; ended up in Portugal for a little bit. And after that, a bit of a rush to get back home on an air ambulance, just had a bit of a nightmare. But we got back home, and things went downhill rather rapidly."

She died on Aug. 13, leaving behind her husband and two sons, eight-year-old Tyrone and five-year-old Conor.

Clarke would come home from the hospital in her last few weeks and hit balls, mostly to take his mind off a helpless situation.

He returned to practice after the funeral because he wanted to be ready if he felt he should play in the Ryder Cup.

Woosnam offered him a captain's pick and Clarke accepted, for no other reason than Heather would have wanted him to play.

"I have my moments," he said. "But overall, I'm very comfortable with what I'm doing. I did think long and hard about whether I should be here this week, and I came to the conclusion that I would help the team if I was here. So that's why I'm here. I want to play. I want to compete. And I want to help my teammates."

The unknown is how his game can stack up to the pressure of the Ryder Cup, and how his emotions handle three days of the biggest frenzy in golf. The loudest cheer all week might be when Clarke's name is announced on the first tee.

Clarke returned to tournament golf at last week's Madrid Open after an eight-week absence.

A closing 72 earned him a share of 31st place, 15 strokes behind winner Ian Poulter.

"I didn't quite shoot the scores I wanted to but it was good to get back into a competitive arena," he said.

Clarke expects this week's matches to be played in a hard but fair manner, particularly since US players Tiger Woods and Chris DiMarco have also suffered family bereavements this year.

"With Tiger [Woods] losing his father and Chris DiMarco losing his mother, there are more important things than trying to win this week," he said.

"But in the end we're all professionals. We all want to win for our teams. As friendly as we are, I'm sure we're going to try to beat each other as soon as we stand on the first tee," he said.

"But I'm also sure that it will be in a friendly manner. At the end of the day, it's not life and death," he said.

Ireland is staging the Ryder Cup for the first time in the event's 79-year history, another motivating factor for Clarke to be playing this week.

"I really wanted to be a part of it," he said. "I was desperate to be here. For Ireland, this is huge. We had the Special Olympics two years ago and that was a huge event. This is even bigger."
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