Darren Clarke withdraws from the US Open at the Olympic Club
The reigning Open Champion Darren Clarke has announced his withdrawal from the US Open, scheduled for the next week at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.
Clarke has played a total of five tournaments on the 2012 PGA Tour so far and succeeded in making the cut only twice.
Moreover, both the cuts he made were in the World Golf Championships that does not have any halfway cuts.
Therefore, he is not enjoying his best form this year because of the groin problem that he suffered a week before the Masters this year.
The problem occurred once again when he participated in the European Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.
Therefore, he decided to take some rest and withdrew from the Nordea Masters in Sweden.
Recently, he confirmed that he will not return to action until the Irish Open at the Royal Portrush, scheduled for the last week of June.
"I am extremely disappointed as Open champion that I will not be able to play the US Open," said the Northern Irishman, who earned a five-year exemption with his victory at Sandwich.
"But I have to make sure I am 100% ready for Royal Lytham (his Open defence is on July 19-22) and I have been advised not to play for a month".
"I've not been able to get through the ball properly and I don't want to take any chances," he added.
Clarke has only succeeded in making two appearances in the US Open since 2004. This time, he had an exemption to play but the injury forced him to stay at home, rather than display his skills on the course.
Golf commentators believe that following his win at the Open Championship last year, he lost focus on his game, which is the major reason behind his slumping performance.
According to his stats, following the Open Championship, he has not been able to record a single top-10 finish, which is a worrying aspect for him.
He is currently ranked 76th in the Official World Golf Rankings and his absence from most of the events this year may affect his position even more.
Tags: