Darren Clarke admitted that he was still in pain with a groin injury after completing nine holes of a final practice round at Augusta ahead of the start of the Masters on Thursday.
“Sore,” was how the British Open champion described himself after an early nine holes of practice, and it led to him joining Luke Donald in deciding not to play the par-three competition.
“I don’t think another nine holes is going to do it any good,” Clarke said.
The 43-year-old first struggled with the problem as he missed the halfway cut at the Houston Open last Friday.
The undulating Augusta National is no easy walk, but at least the Northern Irishman avoided the main heat of the day again.
His first practice session did not begin until nearly 5pm on Tuesday and he completed the back nine before 10am this morning.
Donald was the winner of the par-three competition title last year, but wanted to keep his focus on the tournament proper this time. No par-three champion has ever gone on to win the main event four days later.
Clarke started this morning with not a single spectator watching him at first. That was because the gates were kept closed for a while as damage caused by a violent late-night thunderstorm was assessed.
More downpours were expected later in the day and for the first two days of the tournament.
Tiger Woods, as per usual, was also among the early starters on the final day of practice.
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