Belgian mental coach Jos Vanstiphout reckons Darren Clarke can topple Tiger Woods as World number one - by taking lessons from the SAS.

Vanstiphout, who advises newly crowned Irish Open champion Soren Hansen, reckons that a spell with military Special Forces could be the answer to Clarke's problems.

He said: "Darren is not strong-minded. He is soft minded. He needs to be like Tiger Woods and think 'ball - target' and nothing else.

"Butch Harmon told me that Tiger's father sent him to the SEAL forces for special training when he was 12 and maybe Darren would benefit from that."

Clarke will defend his Smurfit European Open title at the K Club this week following another unsuccessful bid for the Irish Open title at Fota Island.

But Vanstiphout sees great things ahead for his former client, if Clarke is prepared to take the plunge with the military.

"What Darren needs is a couple of training sessions with the SAS to strengthen his mind," added Vanstiphout.

Dungannon man Clarke let Vanstiphout go two weeks ago because he was spending too much time with his US Tour based clients, Garcia and Els.

Added Vanstiphout: "Anybody can be trained to be strong-minded and Darren needs some way of taking care of the fire that he has burning inside. The problem is that the fire inside Darren is too big for me.

"You have to learn to love yourself and if you can't love yourself then it's hard to love others. With Darren the problem is that he loves others too much and can't love himself."

But Vanstiphout - who still helps Ireland's Paul McGinley ­ reckons that the Irish are hard to help.

"Irish people are tougher than most and the friendliest people in the world. They are tough cookies but very hard on themselves.

"Paul McGinley just got knackered and lost a little confidence. He will be back. But I am like a man with a family. I tell my clients to be patient but they expect instant results and Rome wasn't built in a day. I'm not God."

Pressure from managers, media, friends and families can also become a huge burden for players.

"You have to be yourself and not the person that people think you are or want you to be. But if you can't stand losing you will never become a winner."

For Vanstiphout, the problem with golf is simple

"Mentally golf is the loneliest game in the world," he said. "The action is too slow so you have too much time to think about your mistakes.

"The contact with the ball is only three or three and a half minutes per round. That leaves over four and half hours alone with your thoughts."

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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