O'Sullivan heads Irish

British Seniors Open: It was a case of role reversal for the top three Irish players at the MasterCard British Open at Turnberry yesterday as Eamonn Darcy turned the tables on both the course and on his 1981 Ryder Cup team-mate Des Smyth to shoot a gutsy two-under-par 68 while Smyth was seven shots worse off than Thursday's opening round after a lacklustre 75 in conditions conducive to low scoring.

But, playing late in the day, Cork's Denis O'Sullivan topped the Irish leaderboard, following his opening-round 71 with a two-under-par 68 that saw the 55-year-old reach the turn in 32.

"It was a funny old round in that I played much better on the back nine than on the front nine, but my scoring reflected the opposite," he said. "But if it stays calm and I can just hole a few putts, I'm not out of this by a long way, even eight off the lead."

American DA Weibring blazed his way to a seven-under-pay 63 that could in fact have been a course record had it not been for a dropped shot on the 18th.

Smyth, in second place overnight, was phlegmatic about his 75. "I started out okay but back-to-back bogeys on the fifth and sixth took the momentum out of my round, and a double bogey on 13, where I drove into a bush, then a bogey five on 16, and the round had got away from me."

Darcy improved by five shots on yesterday's disappointing 73, his fighting 68 brought about largely by a birdie-birdie finish.

"I'm really not a fan of links golf," Darcy said. "But, that said, I'm delighted with a 68, especially the birdie-birdie finish, and that has given me a bit more confidence."

Two-time champion Christy O'Connor junior followed his opening 73 with a one-over-par 71, despite opening with a bogey five at the first.

England's Carl Mason, in the company of the class of '77, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson, shot to the top of the leaderboard late in the afternoon with what he described as a "flawless round of golf", shooting six birdies to head the leaderboard by a shot from Weibring.

Tournament favourite Tom Watson added a three-under-par 67 to his opening 66 to sit in joint third place on seven-under-par. Nicklaus matched Watson's 67, while Bob Charles shot 68 to join Nicklaus on 137, three-under-par.