Darren Clarke knows the outside of a fine cigar, the bottom of a glass of Guinness and the inside of a Ferrari. I wrote those words in August 2003 after Clarke had won the Bridgestone Invitational at Akron, Ohio, a World Golf Championship event, from a field that included Tiger Woods and just about everybody else in the world of golf.

Clarke, who will be 40 next Thursday, has also known more than his share of sadness lately, what with Heather, his wife, dying of cancer almost exactly two years ago leaving him without a wife and Tyrone, who was ten last Sunday, and Conor, who is two years younger, without a mother.

So it was pleasing to report from Akron last week that Clarke had found some of the form that has been missing for some time. His last two rounds at the same Firestone Country Club as he had won on five years ago were 65 and 67 and he finished tied for 6th among just about all the best players in the world except for Old Whatsisname. On Saturday, as he came bustling off the course in that rolling walk of his, the one that resembles a man taking his first steps on terra firm after three months at sea, he saw someone he knew. "By God" he exclaimed, with a wide grin on his face. "Haven't seen you for ages. I must be doing something right after all."

Though Clarke won the BMW Asian Open at the end of April, that victory was the exception that proves the rule that he has been struggling to find his form for some months now. The result of this run of poor play has been that he didn't play in this year's Masters, US Open or the Open, the first time since 1998 that he has missed all three. Clarke is a big man, with a hearty appetite for life and not competing in the major championships has been difficult for him.

"What exactly do you miss from the big events, if it’s not a stupid question?" Clarke was asked at Detroit where he is competing in the US PGA Championship. Clarke, who is occasionally known not to suffer fools gladly, replied: "That is a stupid question. They are the biggest events in the world. They are the ones I want to play in."

And now he is, once again. He is also in with a shout of making the Europe team at the Ryder Cup next month. Anyone who witnessed the thunderous ovation he got when he arrived on the 1st tee at the K Club for his first game in the match two years ago will remember it for the rest of their lives. It was six weeks after the death of Heather. I remember how he he holed a chip shot on Saturday to win a match with Westwood and the cheering must have been heard in Dublin. And when it became clear there was a chance that his victory over Zach Johnson in the last day's singles might prove to be the one that gave Europe victory in the match, I thought that the River Liffey, which flowed through the golf course, would turn the colour of a foaming glass of Guinness and that Ireland would tilt on its axis.

Journalists should seek no praise and brook no criticism. Ours not to curry favour with the players or admit to liking one over another. That's the deal isn't it? I have a book at home titled: "No Cheering in the Press Box."

Well, yah, boo sucks to that in this case. You can kick impartiality into touch. I am an unabashed fan of Darren Clarke's and if he has four good rounds at this monstrous course at Oakland Hills then I shall be cheering him on lustily while pretending not to be doing anything of the sort.

*****

If Tiger Woods had been playing in the Open at Royal Birkdale last month would he have won? No, according to one expert, Peter Thomson, who won the Open five times in all, starting in 1954 and finishing in 1965 and two of those victories were at Royal Birkdale. He should know what he was talking about. “I thought Harrington was the front-runner from the half way stage, even though Greg Norman was ahead," Thomson said. "It seemed incredible that Greg could lead, as it is almost 20 years since he played that well. I don't think Tiger would have won, had he played. I don't think he could have driven it into play."

***

And while I'm on the subject of players, why does everyone dislike Phil Mickelson so? The American is described as being flaky or dopey. His walk is not a walk so much as a lope. He is A Man Alone. Phil the Flop they have called him and this week they were reminding him that the last time he had been at Oakland Hills he and Tiger Woods were paired together on the first day of the 2004 Ryder Cup - and lost both matches. "I thought they couldn't possibly play as badly in the afternoon as they had in the morning," Hal Sutton, the US captain, said. "I thought they wouldn't dare lose."