Penalty terminates Clarke involvement

The one-shot penalty given to Darren Clarke on Thursday for dropping his ball on his ball-marker put him out of the BMW Championship at Wentworth today.

Clarke and Ian Poulter were among those who just missed the halfway cut on three over par when the second round was completed.

Twelve players had been unable to finish last night following a 60-minute rain delay and it needed only one of them to finish at two over or better for those at three over to crash out.

With Welshman Garry Houston four under with four to play and England’s Richard Bland one under with three to go Clarke, Poulter and the rest knew they required a miracle, but it did not come.

Bland was the one to put them out when he finished first and far from dropping back picked up two birdies for a 68 and three under total.

Clarke’s ball-dropping incident came on the 13th hole of his first round. The marker flipped over when it was hit and although a referee on the spot told him there was no penalty chief referee John Paramor imposed the extra shot at the end of the round.

Poulter, meanwhile, was only two off the lead after an opening 69, but tumbled out of the European tour’s flagship event with a 78.

His only hope of playing in next month’s US Open now is to survive the 36-hole qualifying tournament on Monday week in Columbus, Ohio, following the Memorial tournament.

The Milton Keynes golfer has also failed to make the move up the Ryder Cup table he wanted, failing to build on promising starts to both the British Masters and Irish Open as well. In Ireland he collapsed to a closing 85.