Darren Clarke was a disappointed man as he left the scorer's hut after signing for an opening two over par 72 in yesterday's first round of the NEC World Series of Golf in Akron, Ohio. Tiger Woods shares the lead with Phil Mickelson on 67.
Clarke had looked to be in trouble for the second week in succession in America, after he made a bogey six on the relatively short par five second hole, where his drive clipped the trees and he then three putted.
He recovered well after dropping another shot at the 469-yard sixth, by making birdies at the par three seventh and at the ninth, where he holed from 20 feet to reach the turn in level par 35. Another birdie at the 10th, where Clarke hit a nine iron to eight feet placed the Irishman on the first page of the leaderboard.
"I was hitting the ball lovely all day. I played really nicely but nothing happened. Dropping those three shots coming in was crazy from the positions I was in."
He was referring to his dropped shots at the 13th, 15th and 16th holes, where he finished on the wrong side of the flag on two occasions and at the par five 16th where he hit a five iron lay-up shot into the right rough after intending to hit the ball left. The result was that he bogied both of the par five holes on the course. "The golf course is fantastic and the way it is set up the whole thing here is superb. If this is a foretaste of what's to come in America, then it's hard to say no to it.
"I haven't made a final decision yet about next year, I have to have a chat with my wife, my coach and Billy my caddy before deciding.
Woods said: "It was probably my putting that carried me through," after gaining a share of the lead on the Firestone course. Defending champion Phil Mickelson birdied the final hole from 30 feet to join Woods on 67. Only 14 players broke par in the 46-man field restricted to winners on the U.S. Tour and selected tournaments worldwide over the past year.
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