Golf: Clarke snaps up chances in fighting 65

IF THERE is anything more frustrating than playing badly, it is playing well and scoring poorly. If Darren Clarke's reaction to his 68 on Thursday was of the over-the-top variety, it was because the Ulsterman missed many more chances than he took. "We all lose our heads now and again," he said.

Clarke does so more often than some. Patience is not always his virtue, but it was on the second day of the Compass English Open as a burst of five consecutive birdies to finish had him smiling again. A 65 took him to 11 under and left him leading by two from Geoff Ogilvy, with Thomas Gogele one further back.

So for the second week running Clarke enters the last two rounds in front. "I'm even more determined after what I did last week," he said. At Wentworth, Clarke had a third round 77. Having been five ahead of Colin Montgomerie with 36 holes to play, he ended ten back of the PGA champion.

After a second consecutive 70, Montgomerie was on four under. "There are still two rounds and Monty is capable of fantastic things," Clarke cautioned. "Last week's 77 was a body blow, but it was only one bad round and hopefully I can keep on playing the way I have been playing."

It is a mark of a player that he is the centre of attention when he is not even present at a tournament. When that player is 19 years old, Spanish and has been a professional for less than two months, it is nothing short of remarkable. Sergio Garcia is the man and news of his first round 67 at the Memorial Tournament in America reached the Marriott Hanbury Manor.

When the conversation got round to the choice of Ryder Cup wild cards, as all conversations inevitably do in odd numbered years, Montgomerie at first kept himself in check and then let a pertinent observation slip past his guard.

"I'm just a happy qualifier, I'm not picking the team, that's Mark James's job," he said. "But Garcia? Give in to Olazabal and let him go."

Quite what selections James will have to make for the match against the Americans in September will become clear over the next two months, but the prospect is ever increasing of Jesper Parnevik, a winner on the US tour this season, Garcia and Nick Faldo all chasing the two wild cards.

Should Garcia play, he would be even younger than the 20-year-old Faldo, who became the youngest to appear in the match in 1977. The latest person to be impressed by the Spaniard is none other than Jack Nicklaus, host of the Memorial. Nicklaus and Garcia played 14 holes of practice prior to the event, the first time the 18-time major champion had ever seen Garcia play. He became an instant fan.

"They would be crazy not to pick him," Nicklaus said. "I had no idea how good a player he was. I knew he was going to be good, but he's a little better than I thought. It's his composure and the general make- up of his whole game. He's long, he's very accurate, he's got a marvellous short game. He's well beyond his years."

Faldo is at the other extreme of his career. He was paired with Montgomerie for the first two rounds, the first time either could remember them playing together since they were partners in the Ryder Cup at Oak Hill in 1995. Faldo scored a 74 yesterday to be at level par, which eventually scraped in.

"He is giving himself chances but he is not taking them," Montgomerie said. "That is very draining. Confidence breeds confidence, if one goes in, another goes in. The only difference between us over the first two days was that I holed four more putts. The rhythm is still there and he is still determined. You will not find anyone as determined."

Faldo muttered few words afterwards, but the sense was that his putting was still at fault. One obvious difference from his heyday is the quality of his short game. Then it would be inconceivable for there to be 166 better bunker players as this season's AXA Performance Data suggest there currently are on the European tour.

SECOND-ROUND SCORES

(GB or Irl unless stated)

133 D Clarke 68 65.

135 G Ogilvy (Aus) 64 71.

136 T Gogele (Ger) 67 69.

137 P Senior (Aus) 69 68, P Mitchell 68 69, J Bickerton 64 73.

138 R Winchester 68 70, E Canonica (It) 71 67, C Rocca (It) 69 69, S Leaney (Aus) 68 70, A Binaghi (It) 70 68, D Carter 67 71.

139 P Eales 70 69, P Lawrie 69 70, P Curry 68 71, O Karlsson (Swe) 67 72, D Robertson 69 70, G Orr 68 71.

140 S Dodd 70 70, C Montgomerie 70 70, M Gronberg (Swe) 66 74, B May (US) 72 68, R Coles 70 70, A Raitt 70 70, S Torrance 67 73.

141 S Webster 69 72, J Payne 74 67, D Chopra (Swe) 71 70, J Singh (India) 68 73, A Forsbrand (Swe) 69 72, J Senden (Aus) 69 72, R Goosen (SA) 70 71,Zhang Lian-wei (Ch) 70 71, A Coltart 68 73.

142 F Cea (Sp) 71 71, R Jacquelin (Fr) 70 72, R McFarlane 73 69, P Linhart (Sp) 72 70, M Tunnicliff 71 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 73 69, P Broadhurst 69 73, P Lonard (Aus) 75 67, J Spence 69 73, I Garbutt 70 72, F Lindgren (Swe) 71 71, M Lanner (Swe) 70 72, T Levet (Fr) 71 71, M Campbell (NZ) 70 72.

143 G Emerson 72 71, T Gillis (US) 68 75, J Robinson 70 73, R Karlsson (Swe) 71 72, W Westner (SA) 70 73, R Wessels (SA) 72 71, J Van de Velde (Fr) 70 73, M Florioli (It) 70 73, I Garrido (Sp) 69 74, A Bonhomme (Aus) 70 73, M James 71 72, A Wall 73 70, G Evans 72 71, M Roe 71 72, M Hallberg (Swe) 71 72.

144 C Rodiles (Sp) 75 69, C Hanell (Swe) 73 71, N Faldo 70 74, C Cevaer (Fr) 72 72, R Boxall 74 70, M Mackenzie 72 72, A Hansen (Den) 73 71, J Haeggman (Swe) 75 69, E Darcy 72 72, M McNulty (Zim) 67 77, S Cage 74 70, M Farry (Fr) 72 72.

Non-Qualifiers

P Nyman (Swe) 71 74, W Bennett 74 71, N O'Hern (Aus) 75 70, M Mouland 71 74, J Lomas 72 73, M Scarpa (It) 72 73, S Field 72 73, S Lyle 73 72, P Walton 76 69, D Lee 71 74, I Hutchings 72 73, G Brand Jnr 69 76, R Chapman 73 72, J Rystrom (Swe) 74 71, M Jonzon (Swe) 74 71, R Claydon 69 76, L Westwood 70 75, K Tomori (Japan) 71 74, M Olander (Swe) 71 74, D Cooper 71 74, B Lane 74 71, R Muntz (Neth) 74 71, P Fulke (Swe) 74 71, JM Arruti (Sp) 73 72, M Pinero (Sp) 74 72, P Haugsrud (Nor) 72 74, J Rivero (Sp) 71 75,B Davis 69 77, R Davis (Aus) 75 71, S Henderson 74 72, V Phillips 71 75, S Bennett 74 72, F Jacobson (Swe) 73 73, G Owen 71 75, P O'Malley (Aus) 74 72, D Smyth 72 74, M Santi (It) 72 74, S Luna (Sp) 70 77, D Borrego (Sp) 76 71, A Oldcorn 73 74, P Baker 73 74, C Whitelaw (SA) 78 69, D Gilford 76 71, A Sherborne 72 75, O Edmond (Fr) 72 75, A McLardy (SA) 74 74, J Mellor 75 73, M Long (NZ) 71 77, M Pilkington 70 78, H Bjornstad (Nor) 74 74, R Lee 73 75, D Edlund (Swe) 78 71, R Russell 75 74, J McHenry 71 78, M Anglert (Swe) 76 73, R Drummond 74 75, R Green (Aus) 74 75, S Hansen (Den) 77 73, S Richardson 74 76, N Roderick 75 75, S Grappasonni (It) 79 71, P Hedblom (Swe) 76 74, P Price 75 75, P Affleck 74 76, A Beal 74 77, J Sandelin (Swe) 73 78, T Charnley 76 75, JP Cixous (Fr) 75 76, W Grant 73 78, T Johnstone (Zim) 76 76, L Jones 76 78, H Nystrom (Swe) 76 79, K Brink (Swe) 78 77, F Valera (Sp) 76 80 157 R Derksen (Neth) 78 79. Retired: M A Martin (Sp), W Riley (Aus). Withdrew: J Quiros (Sp), T Munoz (Sp).