The Dungannon man leads on eight under par, two shots ahead of American Scott Parel. Four back nine birdies saw Clarke set the target before the temperature dropped in the afternoon and made it difficult for anyone to challenge his lead.

The 2011 Open Champion made the turn in one over par after bogeys at the second and seventh sandwiched a birdie at the fourth.

“Around the front nine today, I was so-so. I slipped” said the Tyrone golfer. “My right foot slipped a couple of times. But apart from that, I played really nicely. I’m trying to hit a lot of fairways and give myself decent looks. All the way around the back nine, I kept hitting nice shots. And could have been a few better. But, you know, it’s the way it is.”

Darren Clarke then mirrored his opening day back nine with birdies at the tenth, 14th, 15th and 18th.

Bids for Open – Senior Open double

Clarke, who has three wins on the PGA TOUR Champions since turning 50, is in pole position to claim his first Senior Major Championship. He will need to fend off a star-studded leaderboard if he is to become only the fourth man to win both The Open Championship and The Senior Open.

Fellow former Champion Golfers of the Year Ernie Els and Pádraig Harrington, who will also bid to join Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson in completing the historic double. Harrington and Els are three strokes back in a share for third place on five under par, alongside four-time Senior Open Champion Bernhard Langer, 2016 winner Paul Broadhurst, American duo Kent Jones and Jerry Kelly, Canadian Stephen Ames and South African David Frost.

Round two scores (Irish players highlighted):

132 D CLARKE 65 67,
134 S PAREL (USA) 66 68,
135 D FROST (RSA) 67 68, E ELS (RSA) 66 69, P BROADHURST (ENG) 65 70, S AMES (CAN) 64 71, P HARRINGTON 66 69, B LANGER (GER) 67 68, J KELLY (USA) 65 70, K JONES (USA) 65 70,
136 G DAY (USA) 64 72, S ALKER (NZL) 68 68, C MONTGOMERIE (SCO) 70 66, M JIMÉNEZ (ESP) 69 67, M MARTIN (ESP) 66 70,
137 S APPLEBY (AUS) 70 67, T JAIDEE (THA) 66 71, M MOLINA (ARG) 68 69, C DENNIS (USA) 69 68, G HOUSTON (WAL) 68 69,
138 Y YANG (KOR) 73 65, K DUKE (USA) 69 69, J SENDEN (AUS) 67 71, M DAWSON (USA) 69 69, S KHAN (ENG) 66 72, C PAVIN (USA) 69 69,
139 M WATSON (ENG) 74 65, D PRIDE (USA) 66 73, J KINGSTON (RSA) 70 69, P LAWRIE (SCO) 69 70, M BROWN (USA) 72 67, J REMESY (FRA) 69 70, M BRIER (AUT) 67 72, R GREEN (AUS) 67 72, R GOOSEN (RSA) 70 69, P MARKSAENG (THA) 68 71, A DA SILVA (BRA) 69 70, C WI (KOR) 73 66,
140 P O’MALLEY (AUS) 71 69, D BARRON (USA) 69 71, S HENDERSON (SCO) 69 71, T GILLIS (USA) 70 70, D MORLAND IV (CAN) 71 69, P PRICE (WAL) 69 71, A BOSSERT (SUI) 70 70, A BUTTERFIELD (ENG) 67 73,
141 H RUDOLPH III (USA) 73 68, S DODD (WAL) 69 72, T BJ?RN (DEN) 67 74, I WOOSNAM (WAL) 71 70, M CAMPBELL (NZL) 71 70, G OWEN (ENG) 69 72, P STREETER (ENG) 70 71, A OLDCORN (SCO) 70 71,
142 J KEMP (AM) (ENG) 73 69, C KRESGE (USA) 72 70, T LEVET (FRA) 69 73, K TRIPLETT (USA) 72 70, P MCGINLEY 71 71, H FRAZAR (USA) 69 73, R COCHRAN (USA) 73 69, T FOSTER (AM) (ENG) 71 71, J HAEGGMAN (SWE) 71 71, R GOMEZ (ARG) 76 66,
143 R DINSDALE (WAL) 72 71, C FRANCO (PAR) 72 71, Y TSUKADA (JPN) 70 73, A CEJKA (GER) 70 73, W AUSTIN (USA) 70 73, W SHORT JR (USA) 72 71, M JONZON (SWE) 71 72,
144 S BERTSCH (USA) 73 71, P WILSON (ENG) 71 73, J BICKERTON (ENG) 69 75, J COCERES (ARG) 74 70, G WOLSTENHOLME (ENG) 71 73, R STRAWN (AM) (USA) 72 72, B BREEN (USA) 69 75, T PETROVIC (USA) 68 76, S MICHEEL (USA) 72 72, D SHACKLADY (ENG) 70 74, T G?GELE (GER) 73 71, S WHIFFIN (ENG) 70 74,
145 V SINGH (FIJ) 72 73, S TINNING (DEN) 75 70, F QUINN (USA) 71 74, J RIPLEY (ENG) 74 71, J CARRILES (ESP) 74 71, K TANIGAWA (USA) 71 74,
146 T SAPERE (USA) 75 71, I FELIU (ESP) 73 73, N SHINOZAKI (JPN) 69 77, A MCLEAN (CAN) 74 72, M REALE (ITA) 70 76, S EDWARDS (WAL) 74 72, E MCINTOSH (SCO) 75 71,
147 P BAKER (ENG) 76 71, R CHAPMAN (ENG) 74 73, J OLAZÁBAL (ESP) 73 74, R LABRITZ (USA) 75 72, A ARCHIBALD (ENG) 74 73, A RAITT (ENG) 72 75, P GOLDING (ENG) 72 75, R GONZALEZ (ARG) 72 75, B KEENAN (AM) (USA) 73 74,
148 P WESSELINGH (ENG) 72 76, D CHARLTON (ENG) 73 75, J SANDELIN (SWE) 75 73, J WADE (AUS) 73 75, G HJERTSTEDT (USA) 73 75, M MCCOY (AM) (USA) 75 73,
149 S GREEN (ENG) 72 77, C ACUTIS (ITA) 75 74, P FOWLER (AUS) 73 76, J BARNES (ENG) 78 71, G JOYNER (AUS) 73 76, D DUVAL (USA) 75 74,
150 C WILLIAMS (RSA) 73 77, J LYONS (USA) 75 75, S LYLE (SCO) 72 78, J SINGH (IND) 75 75,
151 S FITZGERALD 76 75, J CRAMPTON (AM) (ENG) 73 78, E CANONICA (ITA) 72 79, K KAMI (NEP) 76 75,
152 R ALLENBY (AUS) 76 76, A WELSFORD (AUS) 77 75,
153 M STEVENSON (ENG) 77 76, M ASHWORTH (ENG) 78 75, R MAXFIELD (AM) (ENG) 76 77, L MATTIACE (USA) 74 79,
154 R BEEM (USA) 77 77, N BEAUFILS (FRA) 75 79, B CAMERON (ENG) 80 74, R SABARROS (FRA) 77 77,
155 N CONNOLLY (ENG) 78 77,
156 N FASTH (SWE) 78 78,
158 J WARNE (USA) 76 82, R TUDDENHAM (ENG) 75 83,
159 D CARTER (ENG) 78 81, R GERWIN II (AM) (USA) 78 81,
160 R BARNES (AM) (ENG) 80 80,
163 B ROLLINSON (USA) 81 82,
**
OUT B LANE (ENG) 71 WD

The post Darren Clarke leads The Senior Open appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The 2014 Ryder Cup Captain takes on hosting duties when the Legends Tour travels to County Donegal for the second Legends Series event of the year. It will begin with the second Celebrity Series Pro-Am on Thursday August 19.

McGinley, who hosted the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open at Lahinch Golf Club in 2019, is hoping for a great week in a stunning setting in Co. Donegal.

Rosapenna is a brilliant venue

“When I hosted the Irish Open in 2019, we had an incredible week,” he said. ”My idea was to replicate that good old-fashioned Irish festival of fun and activities in the nearby town next week in Rosapenna.

“Rosapenna is a brilliant venue and I know the players will enjoy the golf course. It is a combination of nine holes from the original Old Tom Morris design, played along the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, and nine holes designed and constructed a number of years ago by one of Ireland’s leading architects, Pat Ruddy.

“It is your typical links golf courses where wind will obviously be a factor and course condition will be excellent.”

Former Ryder Cup captains among the field

The Irishman’s fellow Ryder Cup winning captains Thomas Bjørn and Ian Woosnam will tee it up in this week. The 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie, who has two top five finishes in three starts in 2021, will also play.

Seven-time Ryder Cup player and 1999 Team Europe Captain Mark James, six-time European Tour winner Thomas Levet and 2021 Senior Open winner Stephen Dodd will participate. Two-time Senior Major Champion Roger Chapman and reigning John Jacobs Trophy winner Phillip Price, are also among the field.

Unfortunately, the Irish Legends presented by the McGinley Foundation will be played behind closed doors with no access to the public.

The post Rosapenna hosts the Legends Tour this week appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The 28-year-old, who hasn’t played since the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters last March, showed no sign of rust at the Celtic Manor resort with a seven under par round that included eight birdies and a single bogey.

“I putted well and kept my ball in play, so I didn’t really get myself in trouble”, admitted the first round leader, adding “It was tough pulling clubs sometimes and I put some new grips on which were very slippery, so I was struggling with that all day.”

The four-time European Tour winner, never looked back after dropping his only shot of the day on the second, coming home in 29 to move one shot clear of  England’s Toby Tree and Australian Jake McLeod.

Tree also dropped a single shot on the second hole in his six under par round of 65, while McLeod eagled the last to jump in to a share of second place.

The Englishman was satisfied with his opening round in Wales, however, admitting:

“I loved it. It’s a bit different to what we have played the last few weeks – a bit bigger, longer. It’s in great nick. It was a pleasure this morning, good weather, no wind.”

Italian Edoardo Molinari – who starred in Europe’s 2010 Ryder Cup win at the Newport venue – is a shot further back on five under par, alongside his fellow countryman Guido Migliozzi, Swede Sebastian Soderberg, Nacho Elvira of Spain, American player Sihwan Kim, Scot Marc Warren and Adrian Meronk of Poland.

Jonathan Caldwell was best of the Irish golfers as he carded a round of 68 to lie four strokes behind the Belgian leader. Cormac Sharvin shot 71 to sit 7 shots behind Pieters. Gavin  Moynihan was a further three strokes behind after his opening round of 74, one shot ahead of former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley.

Round One Lead Scores Only

64 T PIETERS (BEL),
65 J MCLEOD (AUS), T TREE (ENG),
66 N ELVIRA (ESP), S KIM (USA), G MIGLIOZZI (ITA), M WARREN (SCO), A MERONK (POL), E MOLINARI (ITA), S SODERBERG (SWE),
67 L GAGLI (ITA), M SOUTHGATE (ENG), A JOHNSTON (ENG), S HORSFIELD (ENG), T DETRY (BEL), S BROWN (ENG), A RAI (ENG), N COLSAERTS (BEL), W BESSELING (NED), D COUPLAND (ENG), J MORRISON (ENG),
68 C SHINKWIN (ENG), J CATLIN (USA), J SJOHOLM (SWE), B STOW (ENG), M ANTCLIFF (AUS), M JORDAN (ENG), D HORSEY (ENG), S CROCKER (USA), C SYME (SCO), M SIMONSEN (DEN), J SMITH (ENG), J CALDWELL (NIR)
69 F LAPORTA (ITA), O LENGDEN (SWE), R ENOCH (WAL), A KARLSSON (SWE), A OTAEGUI (ESP), J HARDING (RSA), R RAMSAY (SCO), E CUARTERO BLANCO (ESP), M KIEFFER (GER), J SENIOR (ENG), Z LOMBARD (RSA), R FOX (NZL), M LEE (AUS), J SCRIVENER (AUS), S VINCENT (ZIM), S HEISELE (GER),
70 G GREEN (MAS), A QUIROS (ESP), J DONALDSON (WAL), N VON.

The post Pieters leads in Wales after opening round 64 appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.

The venue, which will host the European Tour for the next two weeks, will see the Newport location start with Tournament No. 17 on the 2020 Road to Dubai, the €1,000,000 Celtic Classic.

Taking place on the Twenty Ten Course, where Europe won back The Ryder Cup in dramatic fashion ten years ago, the Celtic Classic is the fourth event of the six-tournament UK Swing.

The 44-year-old Pontypridd man, a hero of the 2014 Ryder Cup at The Celtic Manor, is one of a number of players who have represented Europe in the biennial contest who will tee up this week.

“I love coming back down here. It’s a great venue and the course is looking really good, and the sun is shining. I do love playing here, normally you get great crowds, which is a shame, given the current circumstances that won’t be happening. It’s a special place, beautiful setting and beautiful weather. 

“I’ve been playing nicely. After the wrist operation things take time and I’ve been working hard to get that right. I’m fit as a fiddle. Sometimes things take longer than you think they would. I came back last year but never really felt 100 per cent. But now I feel fit, ready to go and look forward to playing next week. This is more of a ball-strikers golf course this week, it’ll help the longer hitter. It’s good that I can shoot low scores like that still. I’ve been playing well in practice, things are starting to come together.”

Ross Fisher and Edoardo Molinari, teammates at The 2010 Ryder Cup are returning to the site of that famous victory which was sealed by Graeme McDowell on the 16^th hole in the anchor match.

In the build up to this week’s tournament, Molinari has spoken about The Celtic Manor as a place that holds happy memories for him:

“It’s a golf course that I love, I have great memories from the Ryder Cup and the Wales Open, I played here a couple of times. It brings back a lot of fantastic memories, playing with Francesco and the whole team, and managing to win that Cup by half a point. It was a fantastic week. The weather, so far, looks good, let’s see what the next few days bring us. It’s always a very enjoyable week here. 

“I have two memories – the first tee with Francesco on the first day, which still gives me goosebumps ten years on. Then the last few holes in the singles against Rickie Fowler, I remember how busy it was, how many people were watching. I’ve never seen that many people be so loud on a golf course.”

Last week’s English Championship winner Andy Sullivan, who represented Europe in 2016, will hope to consolidate his place at the summit of the UK Swing Order of Merit, with the top ten not otherwise exempt after next week’s ISPS Handa Wales Open earning a place at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Those finishing inside the top ten after the sixth and final event – the ISPS Handa UK Championship – will also share £250,000 to donate to charities of their choice.

Sullivan, who claimed his first European Tour victory in 5 years last Sunday, enjoyed the opportunity the past number of days afforded him to celebrate his most recent tour success with family:

“It’s a long time waiting for that fourth win and I couldn’t be happier. Nice to do it in my own country and get back home with the family and celebrate. I’m still on cloud nine, it’s not quite sunk in yet. Florence was elated, bless her, it was my first win with her. She was over the moon and it was good to see a proper smile on her face.”

Irish interest in the Celtic Classic will include former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley who will tee off at 1.29pm on Thursday. First Irishman out will be Gavin Moynihan at 9.39am. Jonathan Caldwell is out just under an hour later, at 10.34am. Cormac Sharvin, who shot an excellent opening round at the English Championship last Thursday, will be the final Irish golfer to start his round, as he begins at 3.57pm.

The post Jamie Donaldson hoping for more happy memories at The Celtic Manor appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.