Darren Clarke looking to recapture end of season form at Dubai Desert Classic

Although the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, the third and final tournament of the European Tour's "Desert Swing," begins next Thursday, there will be various players looking to get their games in shape after playing poorly in either Qatar or Abu Dhabi.  Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal, Colin Montgomerie, Scott Jamieson, Jeev Milkha Singh, Niclas Fasth, Edoardo Molinari, Thomas Levet, and Kristoffer Broberg have not made a halfway cut in 2013's two full-field events.

*Note: The first tournament of 2013, the Volvo Golf Champions, was a limited-field, no cut event. 

Darren Clarke: Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship- MC (+10)

All signs were pointing up when Clarke posted his best results, a tied-22nd in Thailand and a tied-8th in Australia, since his 2011 Open Championship victory.  Those events were at the back end of 2012.  Unfortunately, he hasn't carried the form into 2013. He's now down to 154th in the world rankings.  The reason that he took his name out of the running for the European Ryder Cup captaincy was because he wanted to focus on trying to take advantage of the next three years of his majors exemption courtesy of his Open Championship win.  Also, he feels like he has the opportunity to play in one more Ryder Cup, presumably at Gleneagles in 2014.  He will almost certainly be named the 2016 Ryder Cup Captain at Hazeltine, so these next two years may be his final years competing at a high level.  As with many other players, he's working incredibly hard on all facets of his game, but he's not seeing the results just yet, at least not on a consistent basis.  Putting is his main concern.  Last season, he averaged 31.03 putts per round (181st on Tour).  Worse enough, his stroke average was 72.83 (182nd on Tour).  He's had average success on the Emirates course in recent seasons, with a 20th-place being his best finish in his last five appearances.  It's imperative that he has a productive week because playing opportunities will be scarce due to his position in the world rankings.  The Dubai Desert Classic might be his last tournament, at least on the European Tour, until the Masters (week of April 11th). 

My projection: I believe Darren Clarke will finish inside the top-30 in Dubai.          

Recent worldwide results ("Desert Swing" excluded):

Volvo Golf Champions- T22
Australian PGA Championship- T8
Thailand Golf Championship- T22
BMW Masters- T63
Portugal Masters- MC

Recent results at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (Emirates Golf Club):

2011- 48th (+1)
2010- 27th (-2)
2009- 54th (+1)
2008- 103rd (MC)
2007- 20th (-9)   

World rankings by country: Italy

Golfers from Italy in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Francesco Molinari: 30th
Matteo Manassero: 44th
Alessandro Tadini: 226th
Edoardo Molinari: 235th
Lorenzo Gagli: 243rd
Andrea Pavan: 382nd
Marco Crespi: 392nd

Total golfers in top-500: 7

World rankings by country: Germany

Golfers from Germany in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Martin Kaymer: 28th
Marcel Siem: 60th
Maximilian Kieffer: 366th
Alex Cjeka: 493rd

Total golfers in top-500: 4

World rankings by country: Denmark

Golfers from Denmark in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Thomas Bjorn: 45th
Thorbjorn Olesen: 50th
Anders Hansen: 61st
Soren Kjeldsen: 158th
Joachim B Hansen: 223rd
Andreas Harto: 279th
Morten Orum Madsen: 364th

Total golfers in top-500: 7

World rankings by country: Sweden

Golfers from Sweden in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Peter Hanson: 19th
Carl Pettersson: 32nd
Henrik Stenson: 53rd
Alex Noren: 56th
Fredrik Jacobson: 62nd
Jonas Blixt: 74th
Kristoffer Broberg: 79th
Fredrik Andersson Hed: 88th
Robert Karlsson: 121st
Magnus A Carlsson: 180th
David Lingmerth: 237th
Joel Sjoholm: 273rd
Johan Edfors: 301st
Daniel Chopra: 304th
Mikael Lundberg: 343rd
Rikard Karlberg: 364th
Pelle Edberg: 378th
Bjorn Akesson: 396th
Christian Nilsson: 424th

Total players in top-500: 19

World rankings by country: France

Golfers from France in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Raphael Jacquelin: 119th
Victor Dubuisson: 132nd
Gregory Bourdy: 163rd
Romain Wattel: 168th
Julien Quesne: 188th
Thomas Levet: 207th
Gregory Havret: 233rd
Alexandre Kaleka: 286th
Gary Stal: 325th
Benjamin Hebert: 415th
Jean-Baptiste Gonnet: 428th

Total golfers in top-500: 11

World rankings by country: Countries with three or less in top-500

Golfers from Belgium, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and Finland in the top-500 in the Official World Golf Rankings

Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL): 36th
Bernd Wiesberger (AUT): 65th
Joost Luiten (NED): 108th
Espen Kofstad (NOR): 191st
Ricardo Santos (POR): 277th
Mikko Korhonen (FIN): 347th
Mikko Ilonen (FIN): 354th
Robert-Jan Derksen (NED): 401st
Tim Sluiter (NED): 419th
Roope Kakko (FIN): 487th

Total golfers in top-500: 10