Quintet keep Irish hopes alive

FIVE of the seven Irish starters have qualified for the final 36 holes of the Open Championship at Turnberry. They are led on one over par by Graeme McDowell followed by Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley, both two over, and Pádraig Harrington and Rory McIlory, three over.

McDowell, 30 next month, overcame a potentially disastrous double bogey seven at the long seventh to get round in 73, showing his mettle particularly around the turn where a number of players foundered in the wet and blustery afternoon conditions.

Out in three over, the 29 year-old from Portrush played the back nine in a bogey at the 15th, a birdie at the 17th and seven commendably solid pars.

“I played really well and hung in there,” he said. “The seventh was maybe a bad decision, I was 245 from the edge and I was trying to hammer a three wood in there. I was on a bit of an upslope and was trying to keep it down. I hooked it into the left rough, it was the first time I was in the rough all week and I had a really, really bad lie. I had a strike at it, didn’t move it, and had to take an unplayable.

“Other than that, I didn’t do a whole lot wrong. Some of the pins were borderline outrageous, holes like 11 and the 15th was stupid. But you expect that at the British Open. They had seen the golf course was very benign yesterday and felt they needed to protect it with the pins.”

McGinley also cruised relatively comfortably into the weekend, and while he entertains no wild dreams of departing tomorrow night with the claret jug, he is hopeful that a big finish can rekindle his career after a very disappointing season so far.

A second round of 71 for two over par puts him in reasonably good shape and poised to improve on his best finish in the championship – a share of 14th at Lytham in 1996 when he tied the lead at the halfway stage after rounds of 69 and 65 but as recently as 2007 (Pádraig Harrington’s championship) he was in third place with a round to go before falling back to 19th.

Obviously, though, the Open tends to bring the best out of the 42-year-old Dubliner, one of the most perceptive and realistic people in the professional game. And it is probably because he fully realises that it won’t be easy that he copes as well as he does.

“It’s a major championship, there are a lot of really, really tough shots required out there, there is a lot of skill required, there’s a high level of golf required and Turnberry is a wonderful test,” he observed. “I’ve had a pretty poor year up to now and my confidence is low, there’s no doubt about that. So when you’ve had a long run like I’ve had of playing pretty averagely, it’s tough.

“And that’s what was so great about today, my back was to the wall, I came back and shot a great back nine to make the cut and get myself pretty much into the middle of the pack. And, you know, confidence comes from good performances and that was a good performance that gets me in the middle of the tournament and a strong weekend would be a great stepping stone for me for the rest of the season.”

McGINLEY played for the first two days with John Daly and really enjoyed the experience. “We need personalities over here and we need guys like John Daly, he has an open invitation as far as the players on the European Tour are concerned, his behaviour has been impeccable and he’s a very popular guy.”

Darren Clarke’s belief that his game was finally coming around has been justified by a couple of 71s and he, too, is now looking forward to the weekend with a deal of relish. He mixed three birdies with three bogeys on the outward journey and after bogeys at the 10th and 12th hung in doggedly to complete the last six in even par.

“I told you beforehand that I was hitting the ball well and I proved it today for the most part,” he asserted. “But the pins were brutal, that’s all I’ll say. An example was the 18th where I had a 25 footer for birdie. I looked at it and looked at it and ended up four feet away and thought, what’s going on here?”

Those of who preached caution where making Rory McIlroy one of the favourites for the championship have been proved right as the youngster has just been unable to string two consistent rounds together. He had his second double bogey of the championship at the fifth and dropped five other shots while compensating with birdies at the first, 13th and 17th.

“It was just a bit of an untidy round but there are still a lot of positives to take from it,” said McIlroy. “This time last year or 18 months ago I would probably have thrown it away and missed the cut. I am happy the way I hung in and stayed around and it was nice to make a couple of birdies on the way in.”

David Higgins and Damien McGrane missed the cut. Higgins shot 73, 75 for eight over and McGrane was 12 over after rounds of 78 and 74.