Good day for ducks and the rejuvenated Clarke

GOLF SCOTTISH OPEN:THE DUCKS had a great day as the rain fell on the loch yesterday; the golfers did not. But as the sodden masses of the professional game trudged back to the clubhouse's warm embrace, one man wore an irrepressible smile.

“It wasn’t torrential heavy rain. It was just torrential rain,” declared the resident meteorologist and halfway leader, Darren Clarke. “If you’re from Ireland, you’ll know there is a difference; a massive difference.”

Try telling that to Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els, who endured the very worst of the Scottish weather as they struggled to make the cut, 13 shots behind the suddenly revived Ulsterman. It was unlucky for them, lucky for Clarke, who ended the day on 10 under par for the tournament, three clear of the field.

For the second successive day he shot the best round of the day, adding a four-under-par 67 to his opening 65 for a 36-hole total of 132. “Today was the most satisfying because the conditions were so tough,” he said. “The golf course was playing so long because it was so wet, which meant par was a good score on every hole.” No doubt Els and Mickelson would have seconded that. The South African shot a five-over-par 76 while the sunny Californian was two shots better, albeit with a quintuple bogey nine on his card after hitting two drives into water at the 18th hole.

“The club slipped on the first swing. The second swing was a little bit better. And then I just took a three-wood on the third and aimed out to the right,” the world number two said afterwards. “Those four penalty strokes hurt the round quite a bit.”

And with that Mickelson disappeared into the distance.

Victory here will give Clarke an automatic entry into the British Open next week. “It would be nice but I’m not thinking about that yet,” he said.

It did not require the deductive powers of Angela Lansbury to solve the mystery of what the Northern Irishman was actually thinking about. Clarke, for all his recent problems, remains an ambitious man and a very fine ball-striker.

The problem, however, is that he has not been in such a position in such a big tournament for such a long time. Can he stand up to the pressure? “I’m going into the weekend a little bit nervous but I am also excited at the same time,” he said. “I want to get back out there on the course, give myself a chance and see how we go.”

Damien McGrane briefly joined Clarke in a share of the lead on five under but by day’s end was tied sixth on four under after a 72. Shane Lowry dropped back to one under with his 73, while US Open champion Graeme McDowell carded a second successive 71 to remain level par.

Gareth Maybin (73) and Peter Lawrie (74) both scraped into the weekend on the cut mark of two over, but Michael Hoey (73) and Paul McGinley (74) were way off the pace on five and six over respectively.

GuardianService