Clarke finishes with a blaze

Darren Clarke had one of his poor days on the front nine with six bogeys on the row from the second hole but after covering the next six holes in one-over-par he turned in a blazing finish with a hat-trick of birdies, missing an eagle from six feet on the last where his putt lipped out.

"I got a couple of outrageous bad breaks. I didn't hit that many bad shots but I have had enough lip-outs today to last me for a long time I tried as hard as I could with everyone of those 76 shots.