Wayward stroke sends Clarke slipping

A shot which he hoped would take him into a share of the British Open championship lead left Darren Clarke looking stunned today.

On his return to the Royal Troon course where he was joint runner-up seven years ago – and led by four at one stage – the Ulsterman stood on the 18th fairway four under par and just one behind Paul Casey and Thomas Levet.

But his five-iron from 191 yards ran over the green and up onto the out-of-bounds path in front of the clubhouse.

After switching to a six-iron and two-putting for a double-bogey six, Clarke, now with three strokes to make up, said: “Hindsight is an easy thing, but obviously it was the wrong club. I just got the wind wrong.

“But I played very nicely all day and putted the best I have all year. Hopefully I can play as well in the second round.”

Casey and Levet led by a stroke from New Zealander Michael Campbell - second last weekend and third in the 1995 British Open - and by two from a group which included British amateur champion Stuart Wilson.