Clarke keeps up the chase to complete Open mission

DARREN CLARKE shot a second consecutive round of 68 at Royal Lytham & St Annes to sit two shots off the lead as he bids to become just the fourth player in history to win both The Open and The Senior Open.

As well as hoping to join the elite trio of Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson, the Northern Irishman is also aiming to become the first player to win The Senior Open on their first attempt since Paul Broadhurst lifted The Senior Open Trophy in 2016.

“I played nicely,” said Clarke, pictured. “Just the start was a little bit so-so but I kept giving myself chance after chance around the back side; I didn’t really make any, and then unfort-unately missed a short one on the last which always stings a little bit. The way my swing feels and the way I’m striking the ball, I’m very pleased.

“I’ve been hitting it well now for quite some time but putting -- I’ve been trying to work away at it and get a feel and knockafewin.It’sfrustratingwhenyou come off the golf course and you feel as you’ve taken as many as you possibly can and you left four or five out there and that’s what I do every day, which is somewhat frustrating, but that’s professional golf. That’s the way it is. You have to keep working at it. One of these days I’ll have a hot day on the greens and everything will be wonderful again.”

Clarke is in pursuit of American Wes Short Jr who birdied the final three holes to reach six under par, one stroke ahead of fellow countryman Scott Dunlap.

“I got off to a great start, and then hit actually a pretty good shot on the sixth hole, and got one of those bunkers and had a little trouble there,” Short Jr said. “I then hit a very poor tee ball on the next hole and made another six, and then birdied the last on the front.

“If you go into bunkers here you will be penalised here. They are a true penalty, and you need to avoid them. I’ve been only in a few, but that was the bad one. So I need to make sure I don’t get in any of those.”

Also in the hunt for his second Senior major title of the season is twotime major champion Retief Goosen, who won his first over-50s major at theBridgestoneSeniorPlayersChampionship this month. The South African shot a 67 and shares fourth place with Bart Bryant and Ken Duke on three under par.

“Today we were lucky that the weather really died down this afternoon,” Goosen said. “The course played about as easy as it could play. My iron play was a little better today. I gave myself more birdie chances, that was the main key. Today I still hit a few bad ones, but it’s a good position to be in with two rounds to go.

“This golf course is definitely about placing the ball just left or right of a bunker. Depending on conditions, there’s a few of them that you can take on and fly it over them. Pretty much every hole, you’ve got to duck and dive from the bunkers. It’s a golf course that you just can’t flick a driver out and hammer away.”

Colin Montgomerie shot a 70 to remain inside the top 10, four shots off the lead, along with Roger Chapman and former champions Broadhurst and Bernhard Langer.

Chapman is seeking to become only the third player to win the great triumvirate of senior major titles – having already won the Senior PGA Championship and US Senior Open – joining 2017 champion Bernhard Langer and three-time winner Gary Player.

“To have the grand slam of the big ones would be unbelievable,” he said. “I’m still in shock over the first two, and that was seven years ago! I’ve just turned 60 this year. To win the Senior Open as a 60-year-old would be very special.”