Clarke pays for morning struggle

THIS was one homecoming that Darren Clarke will not have relished.

The 42-year-old from Dungannon, who is so looking forward to completing a move back to Ireland with his two sons in the next few weeks, had an awful closing stretch of holes at Whistling Straits on Friday, when he returned to the course to complete his opening round at the US PGA Championship.

Clarke had been three under par after 13 holes of his fog-delayed first round when play was suspended due to darkness late on Thursday, a situation that left him one stroke off the overnight lead shared in the clubhouse by Bubba Watson and Francesco Molinari, with Ernie Els, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney on the same mark but also yet to complete their rounds.