Clarke finds going tough in South Carolina
Darren Clarke’s testing time in the £3m Verizon Heritage at Hilton Head Island in South Carolina continued today as he slumped to six over par and on his way out of the tournament.
Clarke, who threw away a chance of victory on the 72nd hole of this course last year, struggled to make any headway in his attempt to salvage something after a poor five-over-par opening round of 76.
The Ulsterman birdied both of the par fives on the front nine, the 502-yard second and the 530-yard fifth.
That took him to the turn in 32 and at three over for the tournament knew he had to improve considerably but when he bogeyed the 444-yard 10th the projected even-par cut looked further away than ever.
And his remote chances of surviving ended when he followed another bogey at the 13th by hitting his tee shot into the lake in front of the 14th green to drop another shot and slump to six over.
His fellow Northerner Graeme McDowell was also heading home after adding a 75 to yesterday’s 70 to leave him three over.
However, Londoner Brian Davis looked well set for the weekend after he birdied the par-four first and the fifth to move to four under for the tournament.
He too dropped a shot at the 10th but it was not nearly as damaging as Clarke’s bogey had been, although a further bogey at the 430-yard 12th dropped him back to his two-under starting point of earlier in the day.
Compatriot Justin Rose’s two birdies in his opening nine holes, having started at the 10th, lifted him to two under and he remained there with six to play.
That was still six shots behind overnight leader Vaughn Taylor, who had yet to start his round.
Australian Robert Allenby made the move of the day after his five-under-par round of 66, which featured three birdies in his final four holes, lifted him to six under and just behind second-placed Jim Furyk, who had also to begin his second round.
Fred Funk moved alongside Furyk at seven under after carding five birdies and just one bogey through 15 holes.
