Darren Clarke hopes to start 2002 on a roll - thanks to a little help from the Putting Doctor.

Clarke kicks off his schedule when he defends one of he three titles he won on different continents last season, the Dimension Data Pro-Am in Sun City on Thursday.

And the big man is confident that this can be his big year after a series of putting sessions with short game guru Harold Swash.

Said Clarke's business manager Andrew 'Chubby' Chandler: "Darren's a player that has a lot of putts that lip out or shave the hole, so he's been working really hard on his putting with Harold over the new year and has had a few really good sessions.

"They've been working on getting the ball rolling more smoothly at the hole and Darren feels it's definitely paying off."

Almost two years after thrashing David Duval and then Tiger Woods on his way to the WGC Accenture Matchplay Championship in California, Clarke is still looking for that first Major win.

But Chandler reckons that hot-headed Clarke has matured as a player and is now ready to make the leap from being a top 10 player to Major winner, European Number One and one of golf's Big Five.

"Darren's not as hard on himself any more and he knows he can't play at 100 per cent all the time. He's aware that sometimes it's his attitude that lets him down and he's very focussed now on becoming number one in Europe and winning a Major."

Clarke knows that if he is to become number one on the Old Continent he will almost certainly have to win a Major or one of the World Golf Championship events.

And the competition is going to be red-hot with Sergio Garcia declaring that he wants to be 'numero uno' on both sides of the Atlantic.

As Chandler explained: "Darren respects Padraig (Harrington) and there's Sergio, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie there as well so it's not going to be easy to win the Order of Merit.

"In fact, you nearly need to win a Major to finish as number one in Europe these days and with all the big money events around the world it's not going to be easy at all."

And after a slow start to the European season last term, Clarke knows he's going to have to get going early if he is to keep his rivals in his sights.

Despite an early win in the Dimension Data Pro-Am in Africa over 12 months ago, Clarke didn't notch up his first Top Ten finish on the European Tour until he tied for eighth behind Andrew Oldcorn in the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth in May.

But this time should be different and after some hard work on the range and the putting green over the past six weeks, Clarke is better prepared than ever.

"Darren is nowhere near as rusty as he was in past years," added Chubby. "He's up for it and not at all stale. In fact, he'll be even more keen when he gets to tournaments and starts hitting shots."

The cigar-puffing Dungannon man might have been pipped for the European number one slot by stable mate Lee Westwood in 2000 and pushed down into third by US Open champion Goosen and Harrington last term, but that could all change this year.

The British Open at Muirfield remains Clarke's number one target in 2002 as far as the Majors are concerned, although he will fancy his chances of mounting another challenge in the US Masters at Augusta in April.

Since finishing tied for eighth on his first visit to August in 1998, Clarke has finished 20th and 25th in the last two years.

Last season he started brilliantly and was close to the lead near the end of the third round before he double bogeyed two of the last three holes to drop out of contention.

But the Open stands out as his best chance of hooking a big one.

Tied for second with Jesper Parnevik behind Justin Leonard at Troon in 1997, Clarke finished tied for seventh at St Andrews in 2000 and third behind Duval at Royal Lytham last season.

Despite weighing in at a hefty 17 stones, the 6 foot 2 Ulsterman is physically fitter, thanks to the efforts of trainer ex-Miss World bodyguard and body builder John Newton.

Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout- a key man for Paul McGinley and Retief Goosen this season - has also helped Clarke to cope better when things have not been going well.

With 11 wins worldwide since 1993, including that four and three thrashing of Tiger Woods in the WGC-Andersen Consulting Match Play championship in 2000, Clarke is knocking on the door of a Major triumph.

Could 2002 be the year of the Big D? Chandler certainly thinks so.

As for Clarke - he prefers to let his clubs do the talking.

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© Brian Keogh 2002

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