Clarke moves to No 2 in World after Vegas win

For the uninitiated, the sport is a cross between football and golf, played similarly to golf, but with a football kicked rather than struck with a club, Players work toward a 21-inch “cup” insteadof the usual golf hole.

Before his big World Tour win, Clarke was selected for the Jansen Cup at Desert Willow Golf Resort in California.

The cup is the FootGolf version of the Ryder Cup but with a UK team taking on America – the reigning world champs.

The biennial event honours Michael Jansen, one of the creators of FootGolf, and was played over two days late last month.

Day one was four-balls and foursomes with Clarke partnered aside UK captain Mark Scotchford for both of those formats.

The second day was singles, played in a match play format.

Over the two days, Clarke managed to win three points out of a possible three in the UK’s victory over America.

The overall score was 29 ½ to 18 ½.

After their success as a team, the lads then travelled to Las Vegas to compete in World Tour event The Las Vegas Open. This was a three-day competition played over 54 holes on two different courses. Two days were at Chimera GC while the final day was played at Sienna GC.

After day one, Clarke was leading on 11-under, one shot clear of second-placed chaser, USA’s Cesar Chavez.

On day two, Clarke extended his overall score to 18-under – a seven-under on the day – to maintain the lead by one shot, this time over UK team-mate Clinton Moore.

On the deciding day at Sienna, Clarke managed to extend his lead further, scoring nine-under to finish 27-under overall. It put him five shots clear of second-place exponent and Jansen Cup pairs partner Scotchford on 22-under and UK vice-captain Marc Cowell in third on 21-under.

The win resulted in a $5,000 cheque and valuable World Tour ranking points, which moved Clarke to No 2 in the world.