Even on a calm day, one sent from the heavens, there's always a sting in the tail at Augusta National. Unfortunately for Padraig Harrington, he was the victim of the docile-looking, flower-lined Amen Corner yesterday when a round that had promised so much fell apart once his tee-shot at the 13th hole found a watery grave in Rae's Creek.

"Hugely disappointed," was Harrington's immediate verdict after a first round 75 that mirrored his debut appearance in the Masters last year. The difference on this occasion, however, was that, unlike a year ago, conditions were as ideal as they can be on this course for score-making and it will require a sub-par effort, perhaps in the 60s, in today's second round if he is to survive the cut.

What rubbed salt into the wound was the fact that the Dubliner had managed to get off to a perfect birdie-birdie start and, having reached the turn in one-under-par 35, he entered the back stretch with considerable confidence. By the time he walked off the 18th green a couple of hours later, that confidence had been replaced by a sense of bemusement. "I only hit two bad shots on the back nine," he claimed, "but I paid a heavy penalty. Basically, I didn't play any worse or better on the back nine than I did on the front. I was probably a bit too aggressive, but that aggression comes from confidence."

A case in point was his tee-shot at the par five 13th, where he attempted to hook his drive around the corner. "You wouldn't do it if you weren't confident," he said, "it was the shot of somebody happy with his swing.["] However, Harrington hooked the four-wood over Rae's Creek where it rebounded off a tree back into the water. He had to retrace his steps some 60 yards and eventually signed for a bogey six.

That was the start of a disastrous run, which brought him four bogeys in five holes. At the 14th, faced with 149 yards to the flag, his eight-iron approach was too aggressive and finished over the back of the green. He failed to get up and down. Then, at the 15th, his six-iron approach, caught the edge of the bunker. After playing out to 15 feet, he ran the downhill putt three feet by the hole and missed the putt back, for his second three-putt of the round.

Clarke actually bogeyed his opening hole but reached the turn in level-par thanks to a birdie at the fifth. He fell victim to the short 12th hole but got back on level terms with a birdie at the 15th before dropping a shot at the penultimate hole.

Having started with a bogey at the opening hole, Clarke reached the turn in level-par thanks to a bridie at the fifth but he fell victim to the short 12th to move back over par again. However, a further birdie at the 15th, negated by a bogey at the 17th where he hit his tee-shot right - "the one bad shot I hit all day," he insisted - had him over par until he found the solution to his putting woes by nailing the seven-iron approach at the last to one foot.

"I had a lot of chances but didn't convert them. But everything feels as confident as it has been all week . . . I just need to find the pace of the greens and hole some putts," said Clarke.