Open champion Padraig Harrington insists that Darren Clarke will only turn the corner when he learns how to selfishly separate family life from the cut-throat world inside the ropes.

Paul McGinley has been closer to Darren Clarke than almost anyone over the past decade and probably the man best qualified to assess his friend's chances of emerging from the golfing equivalent of the Mariana Trench - the world's deepest hole in the ground.

MORNING DEW lies sparkling on the practice range at Gut Lärchenhof on the outskirts of Cologne when Darren Clarke strides into view, a beacon in bright orange. It’s Pro-Am day in the Mercedes-Benz Championship but long before the amateurs start hacking lumps out of the turf, Clarke and his entourage are soon hard at it.

The world’s toughest jobs include occupations such as salt miner, killer bee remover and alligator wrangler.

Until the second round of the US PGA Championship at Southern Hills, they also included Billy Foster’s role as caddie to the tempestuous Darren Clarke.