It is just possible that four weeks’ of rest and recuperation will serve the same purpose as the fortnight’s holiday which Chandler recommended just over a year ago when his man was talking of giving up the game for good. On his return, Clarke went straight out and won the Iberdrola Open in Spain.
There is no question that the odd flicker of form could ignite into something more substantial once Clarke gets to Lytham, the links where he finished in a share of third place behind David Duval in 2001.
In truth, he has said more than once that he felt more comfortable at Lytham than he did initially at Royal St George’s.
With two to play, he was only a couple of shots off the lead. That was when he hit what he deemed the perfect drive from Lytham’s penultimate tee, only to watch, in horror, as the ball rolled into a left hand bunker he had thought was comfortably out of reach.
He suggested that Billy Foster, his then caddie, would almost certainly be able to recall the circumstances in greater detail.
Over to Foster, who nowadays works for Westwood, though this famous bag-carrier is currently out of action with a badly wrenched knee. Yes, Foster could remember the incident to which Clarke was referring, though his memories did not exactly tally with that of his old employer.
“I told him to take a three-wood and he insisted on taking his driver!” said Foster, feigning a touch of the exasperation he had felt all those years ago.
