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 two-time winner of The Open will make his Senior Open bow in Scotland alongside fellow double Open Champion Ernie Els, as well as Darren Clarke, Tom Lehman and Sandy Lyle, who have all lifted the Claret Jug.

The Senior Open will visit Gleneagles for the first time in 2022 as the 2014 Ryder Cup venue welcomes the stars of the over-50s game for Europe’s only Senior Major Championship.

Harrington, and his fellow Open Champions, will bid to become only the fourth player in golf history to lift both the Claret Jug and the Senior Open trophy when he tees it up in Gleneagles in July. Only Bob Charles, Gary Player and Tom Watson have achieved the feat to this day.

The Dubliner, who turned 50 last year, has 32 professional victories to his name, including back-to-back Open Championships in 2007 and 2008, forming part of a stunning run of form which included the US PGA Championship in August 2008.

“I am excited to be making my debut at The Senior Open and to be able to do so in Scotland is very special. I always love playing there and it holds precious memories for me as the country of my first Major Championship win.

“It will be a pleasure to be back at Gleneagles. It is a great venue and I have fond memories of being there as a Vice Captain at the 2014 Ryder Cup.”

The post Pádraig Harrington to make Senior Open debut at Gleneagles appeared first on SportsNewsIreland.