Mick Ashley

Clarke eager for heat of battle

It’s all been a bit of a blur. Clarke picks up his bonus cheque in London on Wednesday. Pic: twitter.com/HarryTheHatDarren Clarke will get straight back into the fray next week when he kicks off a hectic three-week run in the Irish Open.

Putting the celebrations on hold for a few hours, the Open champion was in London yesterday to pick up his £2m bonus cheque from sponsors Dunlop Collection - owned by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct group.

But it will soon be all work and no play for Ireland’s latest major winner as he heads from Killarney to Akron for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and from there to Atlanta for the US PGA.

His WeightWatchers diet has been put on the backburner as he piles on the calories with celebratory pints. But he’ll soon be sweating off those extra pounds with his first appearance in a World Golf Championship for two years.