LAWRIE ‘GUTTED’ AFTER BALL HITS MARSHAL

PAUL LAWRIE has admitted he was ‘gutted’ after his failure to shout fore resulted in his ball hitting a marshal at the Senior Open at Royal Lytham. The incident happened at the par-four tenth in the Scot’s second round and comes a week after his countryman, Robert MacIntyre, was embroiled in a row with Kyle Stanley at The Open, when the American’s drive hit a spectator — the mother of MacIntyre’s caddie — after he neglected to call fore. ‘I always shout, so feel awful,’ Lawrie wrote on Twitter. ‘We all thought it was way over his head but it was my responsibility, so no excuses. It was a misjudgment on my part. Gutted. Hope he’s Okay and I’ll send him some goodies.’ Lawrie — one of six Scots in the field — carded a one-under 69 to sit one under at the halfway stage in his debut Senior Open. Darren Clarke is back in form and just one shot off the halfway lead after a horror show last weekend. Clarke’s devastation last week stemmed from a triple bogey seven on the 18th that saw him miss the halfway cut by two strokes at Royal Portrush. He also dropped a shot on the 18th this time but still finished with a second successive 68. Team Clarke wondered how on earth their man would revive his spirits for this event. In fact, they’re reporting he’s in an eerily calm mood — as he showed in the way he recovered from two early dropped shots to post a round with five birdies. Now he has the chance to complete an extraordinary double for Irish golf, following Shane Lowry’s Open triumph last Sunday. American Scott Dunlap is the halfway leader, with ageless Bernhard Langer — 62 next month — just three behind, alongside Colin Montgomerie, Welshman Phillip Price and Englishman Paul Broadhurst, who won this title in 2016. Playing alongside Clarke was Tom Watson, who came up with a moment of magic on the 18th. One month shy of his 70th birthday, the five-time Open champion needed to get up and down from 170 yards to make the cut. He struck his approach to four feet and holed the putt.