A fitter Darren Clarke gets off to slow start at Fancourt

Reigning British Open champion Darren Clarke may be hitting the gym hard but he may need to hit some putts if his start to this week’s Volvo Golf Champions event in South Africa is any indication.

Clarke, who announced Monday he had hired a personal trainer to round his formerly roundish form into shape, was one-over and tied for 24th (out of 35 players) after Thursday’s opening round on The Links at Fancourt -- 10 shots back of leader Nicolas Colsaert’s 9-under 64.

The 43-year-old from Northern Ireland, who celebrated long into the next day after hoisting the Claret Jug last July at England’s Royal St. George’s, has been lifting weights instead of schooners of Guinness to ready himself for the start of his season at this week’s limited-field contest. Clarke was unhappy with the finish to his 2011, which included a 134th at the PGA Championship and a 57th at the European Tour’s year-ending Dubai World Championship, and was determined to get off to a fresh start in 2012.

Prior to the Volvo, Clarke pronounced himself pleased with his new fitness training.

Darren Clarke hopes to round his game and himself into shape (Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

"Lean Mean Fighting Machine," he titled Monday’s entry on his website. "My golf career has been extended somewhat by winning the Open Championship and I just thought that enough is enough and it was time to get myself into better shape."

At the suggestion of his pal Lee Westwood’s trainer, Clarke hired "sports scientist" Jonathan Bloomfield on January 2. The trainer from Belfast had the 14-time European Tour victor get his vision checked, change his eating habits, and quit drinking.

"Jonny's...got me doing all sorts in the gym," wrote Clarke, who earned an Order of the British Empire award in England’s annual New Year’s Honours. "Therefore my alcohol consumption is taking a massive dint.....currently down to zero!"

As part of his new regimen, Clarke told the The Independent he had also stopped smoking and was building gym workouts into his program that usually involved "exhaustive and destructive" practice sessions.

He’s new to the workout routine, but so far, so good, Clarke reported. "No pain, no gain and I'm very excited about the route that we're going down," he wrote, "It's a long road but I will give it my best shot."

He’ll need a few good shots to climb back into the mix at the Volvo, a no-cut event for last year’s Euro Tour winners.