Darren Clarke said today he is likely to be out of golf 'for the foreseeable future' after this week's Open championship.
The Irishman moved into contention at Hoylake with a three under par 69, but the tournament is overshadowed for him by his wife Heather's continuing fight with cancer.
'I think this will be my last week for quite some time,' commented Clarke. 'I have no plans to play in the foreseeable future.
'She is struggling a lot at the moment. It's a really tough thing we are having to deal with, but she is a real fighter and is battling on.'
Playing with world number two Phil Mickelson, Clarke came home in a four under par 33 to get back into the hunt after turning only one over.
'I'm just trying to do as well as I can and for the last few weeks I've been pretty good - until Sunday afternoon.'
He had chances to win the Irish Open, European Open and Scottish Open, but could not complete the job.
A call from the Irish Olympic doctor may help him on that score, however. He told Clarke he looked dehydrated and the 37-year-old upped his fluid intake. 'I've probably neglected it with everything else going on,' he said.
Clarke is playing this week on the course where in 1947 Fred Daly became the only Irish winner of the Open in history.
