Clarke hits out
Darren Clarke today slammed the greens at Winged Foot as “comfortably” the worst he has seen after his second round of the US Open.
Clarke carded four birdies and six bogeys in a 72 to leave him five over par at halfway, six shots behind clubhouse leader Steve Stricker.
“The greens are poor basically, they are very poor,” said the Ulsterman. “They are jumping about and with the combination of the slope and the speed it makes it very tough to hole putts on.”
Asked if they were the worst he had seen, Clarke added: “Yes. Comfortably. I played much better today than yesterday and gave myself a lot of chances. I’m just not performing on the greens and you cannot expect to contend in the majors if you do not putt well.
“A 72 is by far and away the worst score I could have shot and I managed to do it. I had 32 putts yesterday and 34 today. Maybe at the weekend with a few less players on the greens it might be easier to hole some putts.”
Clarke’s focus has understandably often been elsewhere recently given his wife’s battle with cancer, but the 37-year-old added: “I am trying to be a bit more relaxed but when I get the clubs in the hand it is the same as normal. I want to compete but sometimes it is not going as it should do.”
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