Putting in the hours starts to pay off for Clarke after three-under 69 in Asia

Darren Clarke believes he is starting to the see the benefit of his improved putting technique as he sits one stroke behind leaders Robert-Jan Derksen and Zhang Lian-Wei at the BMW Asian Open.

The 2006 Ryder Cup star carded a three-underpar 69 in Shanghai yesterday and is four under overall.

Clarke has been working with an alignment specialist in recent weeks and said: "I haven't holed all that well before but 29 putts yesterday and 29 today is a lot better than the 32 or 33 I have been averaging this year.

"I worked with a guy last week on my alignment and it feels a lot better so hopefully I can keep doing it and holing a lot more."