Jakarta: Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland hopes to make a winning debut at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters, which starts on Thursday, and make amends for missing the Masters Tournament in April.<\/p>\n
The 2011 Open Championship winner, who pulled a hamstring while playing tennis with his children in the Bahamas five weeks ago, leads an elite cast of stars including Ernie Els of South Africa at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was playing tennis with my kids and I thought I was 24 and not 44! Unfortunately I had to pull-out from Augusta and Korea last week. It has been a frustrating period. I\u2019m not good at sitting and not doing anything. I\u2019ve had intensive treatment on my hamstring and it is fine now,\u201d said Clarke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t do anything. I could hardly walk, hit golf balls or putt. I had to sit at home and watch (The Masters). I think Adam Scott was good after what happened at The Open last year. The way Angel Cabrera played was fantastic as well. Augusta is a very special place and I miss being there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI only watched the last round on television because if I watched every day, then I would have been frustrated. I was supposed to be there but I couldn\u2019t,\u201d said the 2011 Open Championship winner.<\/p>\n
He hopes some advice from two-time Indonesian Masters winner Lee Westwood of England, will guide him to victory on the region\u2019s premier Tour which is celebrating its 10th season this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had some good time in Asia. I\u2019ve missed the heat here as well! I haven\u2019t played here before but Lee has told me bits and pieces about the golf course. The greens and fairways are sensational here. It is set up tough but fair as well. It will be a good, fair and stern test,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been practising hard at home but it is a little bit different compared to playing in Asia. My swing is okay but I\u2019m still a bit rusty. I haven\u2019t played since March. It was no choice of my own but unfortunately it is the way it is,\u201d he lamented.<\/p>\n
Bernd Wiesberger of Austria, ranked 83rd in the world, was delighted to return to the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters where he finished tied seventh last year and went on to win in Korea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve worked on my game to get more consistent. I\u2019m making a lot of cuts which shows that I\u2019m going in the right direction. I\u2019m trying to make a step up in every part of my game to get into contention and win tournaments,\u201d said Wiesberger.<\/p>\n
Former Asian Tour Order of Merit winner Simon Dyson of England, who won the 2006 Indonesia Open, is determined to continue his winning ways in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have good memories here. My game is better now but I got off to a very slow start. My confidence was a bit low but I\u2019ve been playing good in the last few weeks. My game is getting better and my confidence is growing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t play much last year. I took some time off because my wife gave birth to my first child and I had two really bad injuries. It is nice to finish 50th on the Order of Merit in your bad year. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time at home and I\u2019m pleased I did because I saw my child growing up,\u201d he smiled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Jakarta: Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland hopes to make a winning debut at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters, which starts on Thursday, and make amends for missing the Masters Tournament in April.<\/p>\n
The 2011 Open Championship winner, who pulled a hamstring while playing tennis with his children in the Bahamas five weeks ago, leads an elite cast of stars including Ernie Els of South Africa at the US$750,000 Asian Tour event.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was playing tennis with my kids and I thought I was 24 and not 44! Unfortunately I had to pull-out from Augusta and Korea last week. It has been a frustrating period. I\u2019m not good at sitting and not doing anything. I\u2019ve had intensive treatment on my hamstring and it is fine now,\u201d said Clarke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world-golf-news"],"yoast_head":"\n