Darren Clarke brilliantly grabbed two eagles in ideal scoring conditions to lead the way mid-way through the Chubb Championship in Naples, Florida.
Clarke, 57, eagled the 15th and 18th holes in a round of seven-under 65 to lead the way by two shots in the Champions Tour course here at the host Tiburon course.
The Northern Irishman’s round, that also included five birdies and a pair of bogeys, continues an impressive start to 2026 for Clarke who produced second and third round scores of 64 and 66 in last month’s season-opener in Hawaii.
Clarke’s eagle at 16 put him well in contention on day one and after a super second shot into the par-5 18th, it was a very long wait as playing partner and fellow former European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn sent his second shot well right into virtual no-man’s land.
NEW PUTTER WORKS WONDERS FOR ‘DAZZA’ ….
As Darren Clarke continues his early @ChampionsTour new season good form with a pair of eagles day one @ChubbClassic @TiburonNaples
Read: https://t.co/6HZpMbF0YR
✅ @TOURMISS pic.twitter.com/9s4UORPz5b
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) February 13, 2026
Bjorn, and with the help of his caddy and a lone marshall, found his ball but there was further time as the rules referee sorted out where Bjorn should drop his penalty shot.
All the time, Clarke and Angel Cabrera, and the third player in the group waited some 70-yards ahead to the left side of the putting surface.
Bjorn played a fourth onto the green while Clarke eventually was able to putt out and did so, bringing a big crowd applauding loudly in holed the 12-footer for an eagle 3 and then revealing post his round a decision to switch to a LAB ‘Sweeper’ putter.
“I had a couple of mistakes, a couple bogeys so obviously nice to shoot 7-under with two bogeys on the card,” he said.
“I just kept going, like in Hawaii, made the move to a LAB sweeper, a long putter, and first week I used it was Hawaii, and obviously then down in the Bahamas at the Abaco Club working away with it, and just working really hard with it. Then today I rolled in some nice putts again to get to 7-under. That was the most pleasing part”.
Clarke had been among the first to arrive on Tuesday for the Friday starting event and was noticeable in spending an enomous amount of time on the practice putting green.
And he spoke of a decision to switch putters heading into a remarkable 36th season in the pro ranks.
“I played obviously with Thomas Björn out here on the Champions Tour and even out there with Thomas this morning,” said Clarke.
“I see how well Thomas putts, Bernhard, Vijay, all the guys. I got help from Thomas. He spent some time with me on the
putting green in Hawai’i, showing me some of the technique and what you should be doing.
“When I’ve played with guys that use the long putter before, I watch them and their ball rolls really well. I thought, well,
I didn’t move to the long putter because I had the yips or anything. I just moved because I thought it was a better roll on the golf ball.
“It’s only one tournament and one round. It could go flying through the air at some stage, but at the moment it’s behaving itself.
“But it’s exciting to be able to stand there and hole a couple of putts because I haven’t done that for a few years, so it’s
nice”.
Curious? But how many putters does Clarke have at home in the shed in the Bahamas?
“In the Bahamas not that many. Only about 20. In Portrush there’s a considerable amount more”, he said smiling.
Well played, Darren.
