'A sad state of affairs' - Senior Open leader Darren Clarke calls for tours to talk with LIV Golf
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 22/07/2022 at 19:18 GMT
Darren Clarke famously won the Open at Royal St George's in 2011. Over a decade on, he is now competing on the seniors and is in contention in the Senior Open at Gleneagles. Finding fairways is the key for Clarke who tops the leaderboard heading into the weekend, but big names are massing in behind.
'Don't know if I'll play here again' Emotional Tiger after missing the cut at St Andrews
Star names are massing at the top of the leaderboard, with Darren Clarke heading the charge at the halfway stage of the Senior Open.
Clarke arrived at Gleneagles on the back of a missed cut in the Open Championship last week, but he has looked extremely sharp on the King’s Course.
He backed up an opening round of 65 with a 67 on Friday to open up a two-shot lead.
Clarke finished his second round in a bullish mood, after getting away with hitting the bank with his second shot on 18, and his game plan is to keep finding fairways to give himself the opportunity to go flag hunting.
"I'm trying to hit a lot of fairways and give myself decent looks,” Clarke said. “All the way around the back nine, I kept hitting nice shots. And could have been a few better. But, you know, it's the way it is.
"With the fairways being as good as they are, as tight as they are, you can really nip one. So it gives you an opportunity. If you keep it in the fairway around here, you can score.”
Clarke also gave his views on LIV Golf, with the Saudi-backed series disrupting the sport, and called on the warring factions to get together to heal the fractures in the game.
“Just for the sake of the game as a whole, it would be nice if some dialogue could take place,” Clarke said. “That would be for the benefit of everyone. I’m not that smart, I’m not involved and it’s nothing to do with me.
“But it’s a sad state of affairs for the game right now, so let’s hope it can be resolved one way or the other.”
Second Round Leaderboard
- 1. Darren Clarke, eight-under
- 2. Scott Parel, six-under
- T3. David Frost, five-under
- T3. Ernie Els, five-under
- T3. Paul Broadhurst, five-under
- T3. Stephen Ames, five-under
- T3. Padraig Harrington, five-under
- T3. Bernhard Langer, five-under
- T3. Jerry Kelly, five-under
Scott Parel will be alongside Clarke in the final group on Saturday, with the American two shots back at six-under after a round of 68.
Ernie Els’ putting is his Achilles heel and it proved the case once again as he missed a series of putts. He got the ball round in 69 to sit three behind Clarke at five-under alongside his fellow South African David Frost.
Padraig Harrington is alongside Els at five-under, but will likely rue letting an eagle putt slip by on 18. He deserved the eagle, as he produced the shot of a day - a stunning long iron from 250 yards to eight feet. The shot was played from the wrong fairway, but it may have been intentional as it provided a great angle of attack.
Bernhard Langer shook off the embarrassment of a double hit on the ninth hole to card a 68 and move to within three of Clarke on five-under.
Colin Montgomerie may not be as fiery as in his pomp, but the hunger for victory is still strong and he birdied 17 and 18 to get to four-under to sit alongside Miguel Angel Jimenez.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement