Clarke distraught after suffering 18th-hole horror
Darren Clarke is so well regarded at his home club of Royal Portrush that he even has his own little hut and personal practice area in which he can fine-tune his game in quiet isolation.
Upon leaving the 18th green yesterday afternoon in front of thousands of stunned fans, he looked like a man who simply wanted the ground to swallow him up.
Clarke had arrived at the 18th tee at level par for 35 holes and, with the cut then projected at one or two over, knowing that a bogey or better would be sufficient to guarantee his participation for the weekend.
He contrived to make an agonising triple bogey for a second-round 74 that ensured he would take no further part in the tournament.
The 2011 champion, whose victory at Royal St George’s was significant in persuading the R&A to bring the Open back to Northern Ireland for the first time since 1951, was so distraught that he immediately walked straight off the course without speaking to the media.
The tournament had begun so well for Clarke – he was three under through five holes early on Thursday before finishing that first round at level par. He then played steadily throughout much of yesterday, making two birdies and two bogeys in his first 17 holes, before the dramatic finish to his round.
The problems at the 18th had started with a wayward tee shot into a fairway bunker, from which he needed two shots to escape. Clarke’s fourth did reach the green but left a long putt for bogey. Yet having struck that putt to around four feet, the return effort somehow slid off to the right of the hole for a triple bogey and the most horribly anti-climatic ending. British amateur champion James Sugrue, who was playing with Clarke, also suffered agonies as he just missed the cut.
The 22-year-old from Co Cork had begun the day at level par and looked well placed after going through the first nine holes at one under, but his round was derailed by a triple bogey at the 14. Sugrue then narrowly missed a birdie chance at the 18th to reach a score of one over that would have ensured his weekend participation, before ultimately finishing tied with Rory Mcilroy at two over. “Obviously I’m not best pleased,” said Sugrue. “I definitely didn’t deserve triple on 14.”
There was sympathy for Clarke after his triple bogey seven at the last. “He had a swipe in the bunker and it went nowhere,” Sugrue said. “He hacked it out and threeputted. I feel for him, I know how he feels.”
Another former champion, David Duval improved by 13 shots on his nightmare showing on Thursday of 91 but was still seven over par for his second round to finish at 27 over for the tournament.
Dublin’s Padraig Harrington, the two-time Open champion and Clarke’s former Ryder Cup teammate, also missed the cut after finishing the tournament at three over par.
An outward nine of 34, including three birdies, had put Harrington within sight of surviving the weekend but consecutive bogeys at 13 and 14 ultimately also ended his involvement prematurely.