Darren Clarke is just one round shy of winning back-to-back Champions Tour titles in sharing the lead heading into day three and the final round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Hawaii.
Clarke added a 68 to his opening sizzling 63 to be tied with American Jerry Kelly who has signed for scores of 64 and 67 for 13-under par totals.
Clarke superbly rebounded from a bogey on the 11th with four straight birdies.
“I just didn’t really have it today, to be honest with you,” said Clarke.
Darren Clarke looking as proud as punch in sharing the lead with a round to play in Hawaii (Photo – Champions Tour)
“Goose (Retief Goosen) played really, really nicely and he just struggled on the greens a bit. He just had a tough day on the greens. He was playing nicely. So I was just trying to hang on a little bit, and then hit a few better shots on the back nine obviously. Holed a couple putts as well.”
Clarke qualified for the event having broken through late last year to capture a maiden Champions Tour title with his November 1st success in his last start and that being the Timber Tech Championship in Florida.
However, an expired visa meant Clarke had to rule himself out of the follwoing week’s season-ending event in Phoenix.
And since then, and including the Christmas festive season, Clarke has been chilling at his beloved Abaco Resort.
“There’s a group of us down at Abaco and after the Timber Tech I went straight to Abaco because my visa ran out, that’s why I couldn’t play Phoenix,” he said.
“So, I went straight to Abaco, and there’s a group of us called the GFY Group and we play. It’s our little group, the six of us. We play all the time. So I practiced all the time, and they show me no mercy at all. They give me as much grief as I give them and getting shots and stuff.
“So, it’s competitive golf for me there. Some of them are mid handicappers and all that sort of stuff, but we give shots accordingly. I usually give them way too many, but they won’t say that. It’s competitive all the time. I was very fortunate in those scenarios in the pandemic to be able to go down to the Abaco Club, down to home down there in Bahamas and be able to practice and play every day and that’s what I was doing.”
And now having waited so long for the first Champions Tour victory bus to arrive, Clarke is staring at back-to-back success.
“I’ve been in this position a lot, so yes, TimberTech was nice,” he said smiling.
“I will go out there tomorrow and play as best I can. If that’s good enough to win, then there will be a few alcoholic beverages again tomorrow night.”
Fred Couples signed for a best second score of 63 to join Kevin Sutherland (68) at 10 under. The 61-year-old former Masters champion eagled the par-5 14th and birdied Nos. 16 and 18.”
“Much needed to go fairly low and then it just kept getting better and better,” Couples said. “I hit a wicked 3-wood on 14 and curved it up on the green. It rolled about 30 feet and made it for eagle. It was a really good round.”
