Irish players draw collective blank at Sunningdale

BRITISH OPEN QUALIFYING:FOR THE seven Irish players in action, yesterday's international qualifying for the British Open at Royal Birkdale in just over a fortnight's time proved to be an exasperating and unrewarding experience, with their collective failure to secure any of the 18 places on offer to the major.

Darren Clarke, Paul McGinley, Rory McIlroy, Gary Murphy, Peter Lawrie, Michael Hoey and Colm Moriarty all left Sunningdale empty-handed, where England's Simon Wakefield and Argentina's Ariel Canete - with seven under par totals of 133 for the 36-holes - emerged as the leading qualifiers.

It now seems likely that Clarke's hopes of extending a run at the British Open that goes back to 1991 (ironically at Birkdale, when he made his debut in the championship) are slim. His only chance of making the field now is to finish in the top-five at either this week's European Open or next week's Scottish Open.

"I'm obviously bitterly disappointed, but in fairness I got what I deserved," said Clarke, who shot rounds of 74 and 70 for 144.

"I can't moan about anything. I tried as hard as I could. I have not given up the ghost, but I've got to find a bit of game," added Clarke, who was runner-up to Justin Leonard in the 1997 British Open.

Clarke got off to a terrible start in his opening round over the Old Course yesterday, double-bogeying the eighth and ninth holes to be five-over.

At lunch, he commented: "I'm going fishing in three weeks, that's the way it would appear."

That pessimistic outlook from Clarke comes on the back of a missed cut in last week's French Open, and is a far cry from the optimism that was evident in his game when the won the Asian Open in China in April.

If he is to maintain that sequence of playing in every British Open since 1991, then the Ulsterman will need to rediscover the secret very quickly.

The best performances by Irish players at Sunningdale came from McIlroy, last year's silver medallist at Carnoustie as leading amateur, and Murphy who each finished on 138, two shots outside of a six-man play-off that involved Jose Maria Olazabal for the final two spots available.

Murphy followed up a 72 on the New Course with a 66 on the Old, while McIlroy had matching 69s but, like Clarke, the only route left available to Birkdale is by top-five finishes at either the London Club or next week at Loch Lomond.

Olazabal, who has played only sparingly in recent months as he attempts to overcome his latest medical problems, failed to come through the six-man play-off, ultimately losing out to Peter Baker and Simon Dyson.

Three Irish players are currently exempt for the championship: Pádraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Damien McGrane.

However, regional qualifying takes place at Royal Dublin tomorrow with places on offer to this weekend's final qualifying at three courses in the Southport area when a final 12 exemptions into the field at Birkdale will be available.