Open champion Darren Clarke parts company with caddie John Mulrooney

Image caption, Caddie John Mulrooney with Darren Clarke at the Open

Darren Clarke has parted company with the caddie who helped him win the Open championship at Sandwich in July.

Clarke's management team, ISM, said on Monday that the split with John Mulrooney was amicable and had come after he missed the cut at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Friday.

The 43-year-old Northern Irishman will keep his options open on a replacement bagman over the next three weeks.

His next tournament will be the WGC-Accenture Matchplay on 22 February.

Clarke will spend the next few weeks practicing for the Arizona event.

Mulrooney took over as Clarke's full-time caddie after the former Ryder Cup player won the Iberdrola Open in Majorca in May.

Clarke has been out of sorts since his victory at Sandwich, his best result a 20th-place finish at the Volvo Golf Champions tournament in South Africa two weeks ago.

He slumped to rounds of 72 and 81 at the European Tour event in Abu Dhabi.