Ireland's Darren Clarke took advantage of the early morning conditions at Augusta today to equal his best-ever round at the Masters with an impressive 67. That leaves him at 5-under-par at the half-way stage of the event and guarantees not only that he will make the cut but also that a similar round tomorrow would leave him very much in contention on the final day of play.
The accuracy of Clarke's ball striking today has been stunning. He shot six birdies in all and just one bogey, with four of his birdies coming in five holes around the turn, including two holes in Augusta's infamous Amen Corner. He enjoyed the best possible start to his second round with a birdie on the first - his first time to shoot a three in 11 attempts on what has been described as the second-hardest hole on the course. He then made a 12-foot putt on the 7th and an eight-foot putt on the 8th to go out in 33. Better was yet to come. On the first hole in Amen Corner, the 10th, he almost eagled the par 4 when his ball struck the pin and bounced out abour four feet. However, he made his birdie and then on the par 4 11th hole, the toughest on the course, he hit a 315-yard downhill drive, then a short iron to five feet and in went the putt again.
Pars on holes 12, 13, 14 and 15 followed but the Irishman then suffered a temporary setback with a bogey on the 16th. However, he responded immediately to birdie the 17th and hit par on the 18th to reach the clubhouse on 5-under.
Meanwhile, the latest from on the course sees the overnight leader Chris DiMarco retain his position on top of the leaderboard. The American surprised everyone today by shooting a 3-under round of 69 to leave him ahead of the chasing pack for the second day running by two shots. Ominously, right behind him is Phil Mickelson and world number one Tiger Woods, who shot an excellent 6-under 66 today to move well into contention at the half-way stage. There's a group of five players tied for fourth on 7-under. The best-placed European is currently former Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabel, who shot a 68 today to leave him at 6-under for the tournament.
Others to watch out for over the weekend are David Duval, Steve Stricker and Toshi Izawa who are all on -7. Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington has finished strongly to make the cut on even par.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
