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Clarke tips 'great friend' Tiger to contend at Firestone

Darren Clarke returns to WGC action this week © PA Photos

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Open champion Darren Clarke believes Tiger Woods could be the man to beat at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational this week, despite the American having spent three months on the sidelines.

Clarke and Woods, who have been close friends for a number of years, have been paired together for the opening two rounds at Firestone Country Club, as Woods looks to make his comeback from a serious knee injury ahead of next week's USPGA Championship - the final major of 2011.

Having spent so long out of action few expect Woods to be a serious challenger come Sunday afternoon in Akron, despite having won the tournament seven times before in his career, but Clarke is unwilling to write off the 35-year-old.

"It'll be very interesting the first two rounds. And knowing Tiger like I do, I don't think he would come back to play unless he was ready to come back and play, both physically and mentally, and ready for the challenge again," Clarke said. "I think Tiger Woods could be a hard man to beat this week because of his record around this golf course.

"He loves it so much and has played so well here before. I wouldn't be surprised for one to see him have a really, really good week."

Seemingly such different characters when studied from afar, Clarke couldn't resist a joke when asked what it was about the pair that made them such good friends.

"Similar build, similar [skin] colour, similar stature," he quipped. "I don't know. We just got on really well. He sort of got my sense of humour and I got his, and it was all those years ago we played first together in 1996 in the Open there when he was still an amateur.

"I give him a little bit of stick and what have you. Nobody really ... I don't think anybody gives him that much stick. But no, he's been a very, very good friend to me over a very long period of time. I've got no idea why, but we just get on very well."

While Clarke was one of the most popular major winners in living memory when he clinched the Claret Jug at Royal St George's last month, Woods is unlikely to be greeted with similar adulation if he ever claims another tournament - due to everything from the scandal in his private life to his often surly on-course demeanour. But, when asked why anyone should support Tiger in his comeback, Clarke was forthright.

"Because beneath it all, beneath all the stuff that's happened, self-inflicted or otherwise, he's essentially a really good kid, a man, beneath everything," he said. "You know, sometimes his media image has been portrayed in a very poor way, some of that, again, from some of the stuff that he's been through.

"But underneath it all, he has been a tremendous friend to me, and there's a real good side to Tiger Woods that nobody ever unfortunately gets a chance to see. That's why."

As for his own chances this week and next, Clarke is prepared to take things as they come.

"I don't know what to expect yet," he said. "I just hope I play as well as I did at St. George's. It took me a long time to win the first major, and hopefully I get myself back up there and contending again. That's what my plans are."

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