Darren Clarke knows what it’s like to let the Claret Jug slip from his fingers.
It happened at Royal Troon in 1997 when led the field by two strokes with two rounds to play but an errant drive onto the Irish Sea shoreline eventually saw American Justin Leonard reign supreme.
Darren Clarke plays out of the rough on route to a share of the second round lead. (Photo - www.golffile.com)
At Royal Lytham and St. Annes in 2001 Clarke was again riding high on the leader board but had to settle for third behind another American in Tom Lehman.
Ten years on and the now the 42-year old Clarke heads into the weekend sharing the lead at four-under par in the 2011 Open Championship with American Lucas Glover.
Clarke produced an adventurous round that included a seventh hole eagle, five birdies, three bogeys and a fourth hole double bogey.
At the fourth, his drive found the rough from where he missed the green. He then putted from off the green but with the ball coming back down to his feet.
However the highlight of Clarke’s day was at the par five, seventh where he drilled a rescue club to within 90-feet of the hole and pulled the putter and duly holed the putt.
Clarke was at five under par and tied for the lead when he birdied the 12th and 13th hole but he then dropped shots at 14 and the par three, 16th when he found a right-hand bunker.
At the last, the 42-year old found the first cut of rough down the right side but ‘cut’ a 7-iron to 20-feet and delighted the crowd when he holed the putt to get back to four under par.
It saw the potential Ryder Cup Captain end the round tied for the lead with Glover.
www.golfbytourmiss.com’s Bernie McGuire then hosted Clarke’s post-round press conference.
“It was a more adventurous round than Friday’s so there was some good and not so good, but overall a 68 is very pleasing,” Clarke said.
“But now that I am in position it would mean an awful lot to win The Open.
“Of course, we’ve only played two rounds, and the weather forecast doesn’t sound all that good, so the course is going to play very, very tough.
“It that’s the case then the tournament is still wide open for an awful lot of players.”
In fact, at day’s end seven shots separated Clarke and Glover from those who made the cut at three over par.
