Clarke contemplating US return in 2013

Darren Clarke during the final round of the 2011 Open in Sandwich. Picture Credit / Phil INGLIS / www.golffile.ieDarren Clarke’s Sandwich feast has made him vow to change from Mr Flabulous into Mr Fitness so he can add to his major haul.

The Open champ, 43, has started a strict health regime with a new fitness boffin designed to help him win another major before time runs out.

As he said at the end of last season: “I’m 43 and I have to accept that if I’m going to win another major, it will have to be in the next year or so.”

The roly-poly Dungannon man will have to cut back on the fags or the booze as he travels the world this season and weighs up a return to the US Tour in 2013.

Manager Chubby Chandler told The Golf Channel: “He’s gone in for this training lark a couple of times but now he has this Lee Westwood type personal trainer.

“When he comes up the last three holes and he looks like he has just done 36 and not 18. And he’s probably smoked 20 fags on the way round and maybe had a rough night the night before. So if you see a big change in his body over the next few months it will be because he has worked on it.”

Clarke has even started wearing glasses when he is not on the golf course after consulting with a new eye specialist.

And he’s convinced that his scientific approach to fitness will pay off big time as he bids to prove that his Open win was no flash in the pan.

Speaking in Portrush last week, Clarke said: “It has worked for Lee Westwood and it is something that I am taking very seriously. We’re talking diet, exercise, attitude, awareness, everything. It’s a lot more complicated than just having a personal trainer but it is something I want to do.

“I have done this before with diets and exercises to get me but not to the extent of having the experience of the guy who is with me now and all these scientific methods.

“He will get me off the range and into the gym instead of spending too many hours beating my head against a brick wall.

“It will take time but already I am feeling the difference. It will be good for me.”

Clarke will begin the new season in South Africa next week when he joins Padraig Harrington in the Volvo Golf Champions at Fancourt.

But while he hopes to cash in on his major win this year by hoovering up appearance fees around the world, he could be heading back to the US Tour in 2013.

Manager Chandler explained: “He’s exempt into every major until the end of 2016 and the Open for a long time after that.

“That takes him to the age of 48 which means he only has two years before he gets his Champions Tour card.

“He’s got lots of options and my guess would be that this year, because he is the Open champion, he can travel the world, play in tournaments, pick up the odd promotional fee.

“He should make the money this year while he can but I wouldn’t rule out him joining the PGA Tour at the end of this year to play the year after.

“As his kids get older, it is a little bit different. The holidays come differently and they can come over and spend four or five weeks of the year in America.”