Bogeyman Darren is cut down to size
DaRREn Clarke’s defence of his Open title ended in disappointment last night as the popular Irishman missed the halfway cut by four shots.
Clarke — who lifted the Claret Jug among emotional scenes at Royal St George’s last year — shot a respectable 71 yesterday but the damage had already been done on day one and he headed home after finishing his tournament on seven over par.
The 43-year- old came into the tournament complaining of poor form but still couldn’t hide his disappointment at failing to make the weekend.
He said: ‘I tried to put up a good defence but I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t that bad from tee to green but I had a cold putter. I just couldn’t hole any putts.
‘I am disappointed to be going home early, of course. It’s been a great year and I will never forget it.
‘The fans here were great to me as always and I would like to thank them.’
Clarke’s round began well enough yesterday with four straight pars and then a birdie at the par-three fifth.
But the Ryder Cup star needed a string of red figures if he was to make any real inroads and he failed to take much inspiration from his partners Ernie Els and Zach Johnson, who were both going well alongside him.
a bogey at the par- four eighth set him back and although he hit back with a birdie at the next to turn in one under par he could only manage seven pars and two bogeys on the way home.
meanwhile, Phil mickelson lambasted his own performance as ‘terrible’ as he led the parade of big names who failed to survive into the weekend.
The four-time major champion, who finished joint second at Sandwich last year, finished well adrift of the cut after carding a 78 that left him 11 over par for the championship and consigned him to an early departure for only the fourth time in 19 Opens.
While the likes of Lee Westwood and Tom Watson just saved themselves at the death by squeezing in at a generous three over, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia joined mickelson in looking at a blank weekend.
‘I don’t know what to say, I obviously played terrible,’ said the american, who had three double-bogey sixes in a highprofile game alongside Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy.
‘I hit it solid but I didn’t hit it straight and I found a lot of bunkers off the tee slightly left of my target. It certainly got away from me on the last six holes. I need to get better for the US PGa next month.
‘The last two months have been pretty poor and I’m very frustrated. I’ll work with my coach Butch Harmon and see if I can get in a better frame of mind for the next couple of months.’
Rose came in with high hopes after a consistent season, but paid heavily for a poor start and was unable to repair the damage, despite two birdies on the back nine. Garcia also missed out by a stroke after bogeying the 17th. Paul Casey had a bright start on the first day when he got to three under but two double bogeys in a back nine of 43 saw a disastrous slide, finishing 11 over. Former champions David Duval, Ben Curtis and Tom Lehman, and recent world no 1 martin Kaymer were among those disappointed.