Clarke a Surprised Leader

Tiger Woods is sure that someone is going to win the Target World Challenge today and he’s also sure it won’t be him. That probably makes him a perfect host. He’s showing good manners by not winning his own tournament a third time, which is the proper etiquette because you simply cannot throw a dinner party and then eat the entire buffet.

So winning again would be rude, wouldn’t it?

“Why?” Woods said. “I’m selfish that way.”

It might be Woods’ tournament, but it’s not his week, not even after a third-round 69 Saturday at Sherwood Country Club, where Darren Clarke continued his assault on the par fives with an eight-under-par 64 to lead by one shot over Michael Campbell and Padraig Harrington.

There are five par-five holes at the 7,053-yard layout, and Clarke has simply clobbered them. He’s 14 under so far with five eagles. And packing a new R7 TaylorMade driver this week, Clarke had to admit he’s semi-shocked by how things are going.

“This is sort of a party week for me, but my scoring has gotten in the way,” he said.

It didn’t start out so great for Clarke, who bogeyed the first hole, then found himself six shots behind Campbell one hole later. But after seven holes, Clarke was tied for the lead at nine under.

Throw in a 31 on the back nine that featured an eagle at the 522-yard 11th and Clarke was able to recognize he was up to something special, even if it’s all been sort of unexpected.

The problem, he said, is that 65 he shot Thursday. “It wrecked my plans for the whole week.”

Clarke said it is simple to trace the reason for his success.

“Lack of beer, if you want to know the truth,” he said. “I could give you a diplomatic answer, but I prefer to give you the truth.

“Usually this is a very relaxing week for me at the end of a very hard season. It’s always nice to be here and I do enjoy the tournament, much more off the course than on the course in the past. Whereas this week, unfortunately when I got off to that 65 on Thursday, that was my week over. I’m just saving my 77 for tomorrow.”

Harrington birdied four of the last six holes on his way to a 65. He even birdied the quirky 449-yard seventh hole, the one with the rock in the middle of the fairway. At least he formulated a working strategy to avoid it.

“I was aiming left of it and I hit it right. I shouldn’t tell you that, should I?”

Campbell hit the rock, even though he aimed for it, figuring he’d miss it if he really tried to hit it.

Clarke also hit the rock, or as he called it, “that stupid thing.” He didn’t let it affect him, though.

Neither did Campbell, the 36-hole leader, who closed with back-to-back birdies and stayed close enough to Clarke to satisfy his game plan.

“I wanted to get close. I knew that Darren was playing well and I didn’t want Darren to get too far away from me.”

Kenny Perry, who had a 66, is three shots behind Clarke in what appears to be a four-player race for the winner’s check of $1.3 million.

As for Woods, he got it going midway through his round with three birdies, but he knew it wasn’t going to be enough. He found trouble immediately. On the first hole, he almost drove onto the adjacent fifth fairway. On the second hole, he nearly drove out of bounds on the left. Woods managed to save par both times, but it was obvious to him that he was up to no good.

“It wasn’t exactly one of the most positive starts,” he said.

“Realistically, it’s been a long season and this week, I just haven’t capitalized on my opportunities.”

That has been left to Clarke, among others. But this is a different Clarke than the one usually seen around Sherwood, which hasn’t been all that kind to him. His lowest round at Sherwood until this week was a 70 and he shot an 81 in the first round two years ago in his last appearance here.

Clarke finished in last place, but at least he earned it. He had showed up at the course to play his final round 10 minutes before his tee time. Clark remembers it well.

“After having a rather salubrious evening, to put it bluntly, the starter was calling my name and he just about got to ‘Darren’ and my ball was in the air.

“So I’ll give him a little bit longer tomorrow.”