Captain Clarke admits his game isn’t up to tackling US Open challenge at Oakmont

Darren’s focus has been on retaining the cup, not on his own game

European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke has withdrawn from next week’s US Open at Oakmont.
Clarke’s decision to opt out means that Shane Lowry, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy are the only home representatives left in the event which gets under way on June 13th.
The Dungannon golfer, who has not recorded a top-10 finish on the European Tour since winning the Open Championship in 2011, said in a statement: “I’m currently dedicating all of my time to our preparations for the Ryder Cup and unfortunately the US Open is not the place to be when your game isn’t 100 per cent.

“I’m very sorry to miss Oakmont but I’m sure it will be a brilliant week. I’ll certainly be watching very closely.”

However poor his form over the last 18 months it must have been a difficult decision for Darren to give up his spot based on the knowledge that his game simply wasn’t up to the task of tackling Oakmont.
Mind you it could well be a case of discretion being the better part of valour considering some of the comments by players this week. Phil Mickelson played a practice round at Oakmont on Monday and Tuesday, describing it as the ‘hardest golf course we’ve ever played.’
Clarke has missed the cut in the US Open for the last three years but the 47-year-old briefly showed some signs of life at the Irish Open where he made the cut, eventually finishing tied for 43rd.
Unfortunately, he then travelled to the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and carded two rounds of 79/77 to miss the cut by a wide margin.
While it could be argued that Darren’s form has been on the wane for some time and certainly since his dramatic Open success, it’s clear that the European Ryder Cup captaincy and playing competitively do not go hand-in-hand.
When Paul McGinley was in charge he made just three cuts on the European Tour between November 2013 and August 2014. Granted the Dubliner was hampered by injury during that period but it’s worth noting that in his first event back after the Ryder Cup – the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship – he comfortably made the cut and finished tied for 43rd.
Meanwhile, over in the US, Clarke’s rival, Davis Love III, has appeared surprisingly unaffected by captaincy issues. The 52-year-old made a string of cuts during February, March and April including finishing tied for 42nd at The Masters.
At this stage the captaincy affliction appears to be purely a European phenomenon.

Tags: Darren Clarke, Graeme McDowell, Oakmount, Paul McGinley, Phil Mickelson, rory mcilroy, Ryder Cup, Shane Lowry, US Open