Darren Clarke is set to roar in his final event of the year after the replica dinosaur named ‘Jeff’ and at the centre of this week’s bizarre Australian PGA Championship has been silenced.
Owners of the Palmer Coolum Resort course on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast located some two hours north of Brisbane have agreed to switch off the mechanical 25-foot high dinosaur located at the back of the ninth hole.
Clarke has returned to the event for the second of a three-year deal he signed with organisers and joins fellow Open Champion, Greg Norman.
‘Jeff” the 25-foot high dinosaur located at the back of the ninth green on the Palmer Coolum Resort course.
Clarke arrived in Australia after a mid-field placing in last week’s Asian Tour Thailand Golf Championship and admitting his game is in a state of transition after recent swing changes following yet another frustrating season.
“I had to change something, I started about 10 weeks ago and it’s been tough,” said Clarke.
“I had a bit of a break – I had four weeks off there and was working away home at Portrush and it was pretty tough when it was about one degree, pouring down with rain and wind at about 45 miles an hour.
“Last week was good to get out and play in Bangkok albeit the heat was about 45 degrees and 100 percent humidity, which for my athletic frame wasn’t the best,” he joked.
“It’s just a work in progress but it is certainly starting to feel a lot better.
Asked what went wrong with his swing, the popular Ulsterman revealed: “My swing had got way too steep in the middle of the back swing and I’m trying to lay it off and get a little bit more on plane.
“It’s what I have done before in the past but I have just got into such a bad habit of doing it that it is taking a little bit of work to get it back again.
“It just got to where I wasn’t hitting the shots that I wanted to hit and it was a case of saying, ‘right, I’ve got to do something about it and try and get it back in the shape that I want”.
This week’s event marks the end of Clarke’s 22nd season in the pro ranks.
“I played nicely last week in Bangkok but just made too many silly mistakes,” he said.
“I still had enough birdies so there is a lot of good in there at the moment and hopefully I can minimize the mistakes this week and keep on hitting some good shots.”
Clarke will play the opening two rounds of the event in the company of Australians Geoff Ogilvy and Robert Allenby.
