Darren Clarke has been on a downer since his Ryder Cup snub, but Mark Roe says he can fight back.
Everybody in the world of golf wants to see Darren Clarke fulfil his potential.
Whilst he has had a wonderful career so far, everybody knows he has the skill and ability to win a major championship and to be in the top 10 in the world - and I still believe he can achieve that.
Darren's time has not passed. I was so excited by his resurrection last year when he won the BMW Asian Open and when I did some work with him over the summer I was extremely impressed with what I saw.
He shot 65 in the last round of the WGC event at Bridgestone and then he went on to win the KLM Open in Holland.
That win sent out a clear message to Nick Faldo that he was ready to play at the Ryder Cup, but for some reason he was not chosen. How he was overlooked remains a mystery to just about everybody in the game.
Perhaps that moment provided a bit of a downer for him because he does seem to have been on a bit of a downward spiral since then.
I can't help but think that missing out on that pick hurt him massively because he worked so hard and did everything right.
He showed commitment to the European Tour in going to the Dutch Open and winning it. He couldn't have sent a stronger signal to a Ryder Cup captain that he was ready to play.
Brave face
Darren put on a very brave face at the time and was very gentlemanly in his response, as he always is. He has been through a rollercoaster of emotions with everything he has been through in the last few years but he has always handled himself with great dignity.
I'm full of admiration for the way he conducts himself on the golf course and I'm always drawn back to that incident at the Irish Open when he had a terrible lie on the ninth hole, but when he went back the next day the spectators had trampled the grass down, so the ball was lying perfectly.
He knew he couldn't have reached the green on the previous day before the change in circumstances, so he chipped it out sideways. There's no more than a handful of guys in the game that would have done that.
But despite his gentlemanly response to his Ryder Cup disappointment, he hasn't played well since that moment. I do get the impression he is suffering a crisis of confidence right now.
Rediscover
I would love to see him rediscover his game and do so quickly. At 40-years-old, he probably has a period of two or three years where he can still win a major if he finds his best form.
He is still ultimately capable of matching the best players in the world and every time he steps onto a course, the golfing world is looking for that spark of brilliance that he has shown so often in the past.
I know Darren has been putting the hours in. I've spoken to him when I've been coaching at Queenwood and he's in great shape physically. He's also been working incredibly hard on his golf game with his long-time coach and friend Ewen Murray.
However, the only place you can find confidence is on the golf course under pressure. Yes, you've got to feel like your game is coming together on the range, but pure confidence can only come from doing the right things at the right moments in a Tour event.
Return
He returns after two months away at the Italian Open this week and he needs to get back into the habit of playing well. He's got get in the habit of putting good scores on the table and being in the limelight again. It's easy to get out of the habit of doing well and it's time for him to start putting positive thoughts in his head.
He doesn't need to think too much about the bigger picture. He just needs to focus on playing the very best he can every time he steps onto a golf course because if he does that then his confidence will return very quickly.
He needs to focus on one shot at a time and start enjoying himself again. It's really important to go to golf tournaments with a smile on your face rather than worrying about what might go wrong.
Colin Montgomerie will be in Italy as well this week and of course, it is still too early for him to be thinking about picking Darren for Celtic Manor.
But there is no doubt he will be in the reckoning if he is playing well. Darren Clarke is a Ryder Cup player and when he's on his best form you would always want him in your side.
Put it this way. If we get the same set of circumstances that arose in 2008 and Darren Clarke is running into winning form on the eve of the Ryder Cup, I would be amazed if he is overlooked again.
