Clarke captures Taiheiyo Masters

Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland completed a start-to-finish victory at the Taiheiyo Masters golf yesterday, smashing the tournament record in the process.

The 36-year-old, who lost a play-off at his last appearance here five years ago, hit a four-under-par 68 for a four-round total of 266 -- 22 under par and four strokes better than the previous record.

The Ryder Cup star got off to a slow start with a bogey on the second hole, but soon recovered his form to sink five birdies on the third, fifth, sixth, 11th and the final holes for a comfortable six-stroke victory.

"I was disappointed a little bit when I didn't win here after losing a play-off, but it's fantastic to come here and win here," said Clarke.

"I think I am just a better player now than I was in 1999, and my short game was better this week."

Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood of England, three-time champion here from 1996 to 1998, shared second place with Japan's Nozomi Kawahara on 272, followed by Hideki Kase and Hidemasa Hoshino two strokes further back.

Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, ranked top among the US students in 2002, was tied for sixth place on 275 with Japan's Nobuhiro Masuda and Shingo Katayama.

For Clarke, it was his fourth appearance in the event here and the first since his runner-up finish in 1999 when he was beaten by Japan's Hirofumi Miyase in a sudden death play-off.

The previous tournament record of 18-under-par 270 was held jointly by Jose-Maria Olazabal of Spain (1990) and Japan's Masashi Ozaki (1994) and Toshimitsu Izawa (2001).