Caddie carries can for Clarke cock-up

VETERAN caddie Pete Coleman held his hands up here last night and admitted it was his fault Darren Clarke fired his second shot to the 18th over the green and out of bounds in the first round of the Open Championship.

The hole cost Clarke a double bogey six but even so, he and Paul McGinley are very much in the thick of the battle at the end of day one.

Both men finished on two under par 69, three behind the joint leaders, Thomas Levet of France and the Englishman Paul Casey. Generally speaking, it was a decent day for the European contenders with the Scot Alistair Forsyth, in spite of finishing bogey, bogey in the second last group of the day, Gary Evans, Kenneth Ferrie and the Swede Carl Pettersson all on 68 along with Scotland’s British amateur champion Stuart Wilson. There were also further signs of a revival in fortunes for Colin Montgomerie who finished on 69.