Golf Capsules: Clarke, Glover lead a wide open British Open

SANDWICH, England (AP) — Darren Clarke marched along bumpy fairways on a wild ride at Royal St. George’s that was filled with blunders and brilliance, and one final birdie that brought the kind of ovation he had not heard in a decade at the British Open.

Right behind him was Lucas Glover, far more steady in closing his solid round with eight straight pars.

When a sun-baked and wind-blown second round finally ended Friday, they shared the lead in a major that is living up to its proper name.

The Open Championship is every bit of that.

Before anyone could get excited about the prospects of Clarke delivering yet another major to Northern Ireland, all it took was one look down the leaderboard — all the way to the bottom — to realize this championship was just getting started.

Only seven shots separated first from worst going into the weekend.

"There’s still two days of tough golf and tough weather ahead of us," Clarke said.

Clarke, a forgotten figure as Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy captured the U.S. Open the last two years, bounced back from a double bogey to make a 90-foot eagle putt and survived a few more hiccups on his way to another 2-under 68.

Glover, playing the kind of golf that won him a U.S. Open two years ago in New York, has made only three bogeys in the opening two rounds. He had a 70 to join Clarke in the lead at 4-under 136.

"Unlike often when you’re in contention in a championship where it may be between six, seven, eight of you, now it’s between the whole field," Thomas Bjorn said. "You’ve just got to go out there and knuckle down and see where it gets you to on Sunday afternoon."

Bjorn (72) was one shot behind along with PGA champion Martin Kaymer (69), Chad Campbell (68) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (71). The 29 players within four shots of the lead included U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy, who met his goal of getting to even par for the tournament with a spectacular save from a buried lie in the pot bunker in front of the 18th green.

McIlroy will play Saturday for the third straight time with Rickie Fowler, a fellow 22-year-old who fought his way to a 70 and then summed up the state of this British Open going into the weekend.

"It’s basically a new tournament starting tomorrow," Fowler said.

That won’t be the case for Luke Donald, who became the second No. 1 player this year to miss the cut in a major. His hopes ended when his ball plugged so badly in a bunker on the 17th that he had to play back toward the fairway, only to see it roll back into the sand. Donald at least was in good company. Lee Westwood at No. 2 also missed the cut and refused to speak to reporters.

Even with a beloved figure like Clarke in the lead, nothing is drawing more attention than the weather.

The forecast is strong wind and increasing rain late in the morning, followed by heavy rain and even stronger gusts in the afternoon. Depending on the weather, it could be a repeat of 10 years ago at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, when David Duval started the third round seven shots out of the lead and wound up with a share of the lead by the end of the day.

"There’s an awful long way to go yet, and I believe the forecast for the weekend is very, very poor, which I quite look forward to," Clarke said. "But the course is going to play very, very tough. If that’s the case, then the tournament is still wide open for an awful lot of players."

So many players, in fact, that it was easy to overlook Phil Mickelson, who has never fared well at the British Open and suddenly finds himself within three shots of the lead going into the weekend.

"I’m looking forward to that challenge, and I’m hoping I’ve got the shots now to be effective in it," Mickelson said.

The eclectic mix of contenders still includes 20-year-old amateur Tom Lewis, who shared the lead after the first round with a 65 and held it together until the end of his round when he three-putted the 17th and was fortunate to make bogey on the final hole. His shot from the rough went over the green and was headed out of bounds until the ball hit the stake. He shot 74, and was still only three shots behind.

On the other end of the spectrum was 61-year-old Tom Watson, who put on another memorable show with a hole-in-one on the sixth hole, hitting a pure 4-iron from 160 yards into the wind that took one hop and banged off the pin before dropping into the cup.

"They’re all lucky when they go in," Watson said. "But that’s what I was aiming at."

The group at 2-under 138 included a former Ryder Cup captain in Tom Lehman (67) and the current captain in Davis Love III (68). They were joined by Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who has experience with a crowded leaderboard. He was among eight players who had a share of the lead on the final day at Augusta National until he birdied the last four holes to win by two.

McIlroy was the favorite going into the British Open, and it’s hard to rule him out at only four shots behind. At times the kid looked as though he was ready to make a move, only to miss a key putt for find a bunker that led to bogey.

Even so, he was right where he needed to be.

"I think you’ll see a lot of chopping and changing at the top of the leaderboard," he said. "It’s the most open Open I’ve seen in a long time. Yeah, I think it’ll be excited to be a part of, and it’ll be excited to watch over the next two days."

It wasn’t much fun for him to be watching from his house early Friday, when the day started under so much sunshine and so little wind that low scores were anticipated until the gusts arrived in the afternoon, about the time McIlroy was to tee off.

"It’s the first Open Championship round I’ve played in short sleeves the whole time," Glover said.

But it didn’t work out that way. There were enough tricky pins to keep anyone from doing better than a 67, and as lunchtime approached, the wind shifted to the opposite direction and made the closing holes as tough as ever.

Glover fired at a tight pin on No. 2 for birdie, and picked up another shot on the downwind, par-5 seventh that could easily be reached in two. A bogey on the 10th hole was his last of the round.

"I didn’t hole as many putts as I did yesterday," Glover said. "But I’m happy to grind out even par."

It was the first time Glover has put together consecutive rounds at par or better.

Clarke got into trouble on No. 4 when he missed the green to the right, his chip didn’t get up the slope and he wound up missing a 4-foot putt to take double bogey. Then came the long eagle, a birdie on the next hole and a back nine that featured three bogeys, three birdies and three pars.

"It was a little bit more adventurous today," Clarke said. "There was some good and some not-so-good. But overall, 68 is very pleasing."

Equally pleasing was the ovation Clarke received on just about every green. He was runner-up in the Open at Royal Troon in 1997, and tied for third at Royal Lytham in 2001. Still strong are the memories from the Ryder Cup in Ireland five years ago, when he played a month after his wife died of cancer and went 3-0 at The K Club.

"The support I’ve had the first two days has been fantastic," Clarke said. "The shouting and roaring, it’s been a while, but it’s been very enjoyable, and it’s definitely helped."

There figures to be plenty more noise this weekend. The only mystery is for whom.

Westwood, Donald go tumbling down at British Open

SANDWICH, England (AP) — Lee Westwood was full of bluster and confidence on the eve of the British Open. He said he had the patience to conquer Royal St. George’s and win that elusive first major.

By Friday, he was gone.

A second-round 73 sent a frustrated and irritable Westwood tumbling out of the tournament at 4 over, a stroke below the cut.

The second-ranked Englishman wasn’t the only big name out before the weekend. Top-ranked Luke Donald hit the exits, as did former winners Padraig Harrington, Ernie Els, Ben Curtis and Mark Calcavecchia.

The undulating links course in southeast England also took out No. 7-ranked Matt Kuchar and 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell.

Of the 71 players remaining, only 13 occupy positions in the world’s top 30. And two of the leftovers are amateur players — 20-year-old Englishman Tom Lewis (1 under) and 21-year-old American Peter Uihlein (2 over).

The only crumb of comfort for Donald, who bogeyed his last four holes for an uncharacteristically sloppy 75, is that he’s assured of retaining his No. 1 ranking next week.

That’s because Westwood followed him out of Sandwich.

After his bold claims on Tuesday that he would master Royal St. George’s, he sloped off with barely a whimper, refusing to talk to reporters.

Much had been expected of him. A top-three finisher in all the majors, he ended Tiger Woods’ 281-week reign as No. 1 in October and has been one of the world’s most consistent performers in 2011.

Westwood started Friday like he meant business, making a birdie at the par-4 No. 1 to go to even par.

That was as good as it got.

A dropped shot at No. 2 was soon backed up by a double-bogey at No. 8, and he couldn’t recover.

Both of Westwood’s rounds were played when the course conditions were at their most benign, when the breeze of the English Channel had largely relented. No wonder he was so glum for much of his two rounds.

The same could be said for McDowell (5 over), two-time British Open winner Harrington (4 over) and Kuchar (11 over), one of 25 Americans to miss the cut.

Coming off a win at the Scottish Open last week, Donald also seemed primed to make a run at his first major victory.

Even after a first-round 71, Donald — who has been atop the rankings since the end of May — said his game was there but he missed out by two shots.

"It’s very disappointing not to be here for the weekend," said Donald, a winner of four tournaments in 2011. "I believe in my ability but for whatever reason, it’s just not happened for the last two majors."

He finished tied for 45th at last month’s U.S. Open at Congressional.

"I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’ve played in countless majors and come close a couple of times but now how I’ve got to figure out a way to contend a bit more."

It’s the second time this year that a No. 1 has failed to make the weekend at a major — Martin Kaymer fell short at the Masters.

Els missed the cut in his first Open as an amateur in 1989, and he didn’t miss another until last year. He won the event at Muirfield in 2002, the last of his three majors.

The 41-year-old South African finished 8 over like Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 champion at Troon who was 1 under after the first round at Sandwich.

The champion the last time the British Open was held at Royal St. George’s is gone, too.

Curtis, who triumphed unexpectedly here in 2003 as a rookie, had rounds of 77 and 74 for 11 over.

Tenth-ranked Nick Watney, winner of the AT&T National in Pennsylvania last week, wound up 5 over and Hunter Mahan botched a chip onto the green at the par-4 No. 18, two-putting to miss out by a stroke.

The fluffed shot revived memories of last year’s Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor, when he mis-hit a pitch from just off the front of the 17th green to effectively gift McDowell the title.

Those glory days, and his U.S. Open win at Pebble Beach, must seem a distant memory to the Northern Irishman, who was highly critical of his attitude after crashing to a birdie-free 77.

"I just don’t have that dig deep in me at the minute — it’s weird," McDowell said. "I’ve had half a dozen rounds in the high 70s this year. It’s not me. I need to have a look at my mental approach a little bit.

"I’m not in the right frame of mind right now. There’s something going on. Maybe my expectation level is putting a little too much pressure on myself."

-- Steve Douglas

Amateur Tom Lewis eyes top 15 at British Open

SANDWICH, England (AP) — A day after making history, Tom Lewis was content just to make the cut.

Playing with Tom Watson — the golfing great Lewis was named after — the 20-year-old Englishman had the lowest score by any amateur at a British Open. That gave him a share of the first-round lead with a 5-under 65 on Thursday.

After a night’s sleep disturbed by about 80 congratulatory text messages, Lewis was back on the links course at Royal St. George’s for Friday’s second round.

This day proved a little more troublesome. He shot a 74 to drop back into the pack at 1 under, but he’ll still be around for the weekend, unlike many leading names in the 156-player field.

"If you asked me two days ago, I would have taken this position," Lewis said. "It would be nice to win the silver medal (given to the top amateur) and try and finish top 15. Try and take one step at a time.

"Yesterday was a completely different day to today. Hopefully, I can have another one of yesterday’s scores tomorrow."

Lewis said his father, former European Tour player Brian Lewis, was too nervous to be at the course to watch him during his second round, which began with him dropping three shots on the front nine.

Despite a birdie at No. 13 — described by Lewis as the highlight of his round — he threw away further shots on Nos. 17 and 18. He was tied for 15th as the second round ended.

"I had to limit the damage and I felt there was loads of it out there," he said. "Every hole felt like there was something, because the way I was hitting it wasn’t great. But this is only halfway through the event. I’ve got two days left and hopefully I can stay in the red and that won’t be too far away coming into the last day."

Watson, a five-time winner of the British Open, provided a jolt in the second round with a hole-in-one at No. 6, his 4-iron shot bouncing once and dropping straight in.

"Not many people get that time with him," said Lewis, who is set to turn professional after the Walker Cup in September. "It was really nice. He gave me some advice round the course, so that was a thrill."

With Tiger Woods one of three players to shoot 66 at the British Open as an amateur, Lewis has already dislodged the 14-time major champion from the record books. And he’s also stated his desire to surpass the haul of six majors won by English great Nick Faldo, who hails from the same town north of London.

"It’ll probably settle in next week when I realize what I did that first day," Lewis said. "Hopefully I can watch some of the footage and see how I look on TV."

-- Steve Douglas

More British Open magic from Tom Watson

SANDWICH, England (AP) — Tom Watson has aced the 178-yard sixth hole in the British Open, his 4-iron shot bouncing once on the green and dropping into the cup in the second round Friday.

The 61-year-old Watson, a five-time British Open winner, threw both arms in the air, high-fived playing partner Henrik Stenson, shook hands with amateur Tom Lewis and took a bow for the cheering crowd.

As he walked toward the green, Watson said: "Wish I could have seen it go in."

Dustin Johnson aced the 16th during the opening round, the first hole-in-one at the Open since 2009.

Injured Goosen withdraws from British Open

SANDWICH, England (AP) — Retief Goosen has withdrawn from the British Open because of a back injury.

The two-time U.S. Open champion shot a 6-over 76 in the first round Thursday at Royal St. George’s, then pulled out of the tournament before beginning his second round Friday.

The South African star, ranked 21st in the world, finished sixth last year at St. Andrews.

Other Golf News

Matteson, McNeill tied for Viking Classic lead

MADISON, Miss. (AP) — For nearly four hours, Troy Matteson tried to figure out ways to kill time in the clubhouse as thunderstorms rolled across Annandale Golf Club.

He watched a little television. Swapped stories with other golfers. Counted the minutes as they slowly ticked off the clock.

Turns out it was worth the wait.

Matteson birdied his final three holes of the day after the lengthy delay, taking advantage of Annandale’s forgiving fairways and greens to share the Viking Classic lead with George McNeill.

Matteson finished his round but McNeill was on No. 18 when the final delay was called at about 6:30 p.m. local time due to lightning in the area. The day featured nearly six hours of delays as soaking thunderstorms rolled through central Mississippi on a steamy summer afternoon.

PGA Tour officials said Annandale has received more than four inches of rain since Monday.

That didn’t stop Matteson. The 31-year-old with two Tour victories was 12 under after firing his second straight 6-under 66.

"It’s kind of weird — I usually don’t play that well coming off a rain delay like that," Matteson said. "Somehow the greens are standing up to the rain. They’re soft but they’re very smooth. These are some of the best Bermuda greens we play all season and they’ve stayed very consistent with their speed."

McNeill, a 35-year-old who has one PGA Tour win, was 7 under through 17 holes and will resume play Saturday on the 18th fairway.

The start was delayed two hours after a heavy round of overnight thunderstorms dumped more than an inch of rain at Annandale. Play began just after 9 a.m., but another heavy round of storms hit the course at about 2 p.m., sending spectators scrambling and leaving puddles on the fairways.

Play started again 5:40 p.m., but about an hour later more lightning sent the players to the clubhouse for good. The second round resumes at 7 a.m. Saturday. Tour officials still hope to finish the tournament Sunday.

The Viking Classic was canceled in 2009 for the only time in its 45-year history after more than 20 inches of rain rendered the course unplayable.

Scores were low for the second straight day. Players were allowed to lift, clean and place balls in the fairway and the soft greens made for prime scoring conditions. The projected cut is at 3 under and 107 players had a score of par of better.

Matteson expects low scores to continue throughout the weekend.

"It’s perfect conditions for us," he said. "This is what guys putt best on. This is kind of a putting contest with everything being so soft right now. Obviously, that could change if things firm up a little, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen."

Blake Adams had the day’s best round with a 62, making nine birdies, one eagle and one bogey to vault from seven strokes back to just two behind McNeill and Matteson.

Kevin Kisner and 51-year-old Tom Pernice Jr. were tied one shot off the lead.

Tim Petrovic, Bobby Gates, Brendon de Jonge, Peter Lonard, Sunghoon Kang and John Mallinger started the second round in a tie for the lead after shooting an opening 65. Only Gates played his full second round Friday, shooting 3 under to fall two shots back.

-- David Brandt

Actor Wagner leads Tahoe celebrity golf tourney

STATELINE, Nev. (AP) — Self-described "pip-squeak" actor Jack Wagner made seven birdies Friday to jump out to the first-round lead at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship at Lake Tahoe.

Former NHL All-Star Jeremy Roenick and ex-quarterback Chris Chandler were tied for second at Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course.

Others in the hunt included hockey’s Mike Modano and Brett Hull, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and former pitcher Rick Rhoden, who has won the event a record eight times.

Five years ago, Wagner became the only non-professional athlete to win in the tournament’s 22-year history. He had seven birdies and one bogey Friday for a total of 29 points in the modified Stableford scoring system. He shot a 4-under 68 in a regular format.

"The great part about this event is we’ve kicked around together for 20-some years now," said Wagner, who tied for second last year and has finished outside the top 10 only five times in 21 previous appearances.

"I think these guys kind of like that they have a little pip-squeak actor they can play with," he said. "Someone who is a little different who can actually hit it kind of out there with them, though not near as far."

"These guys hit it like Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson. They actually are that explosive," Wagner said.

Roenick rolled home a 40-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th to vault into a tie for second with 24 points in the scoring system that awards six points for eagle, three for birdie, one for par, none for bogey and minus-2 for double bogey or worse.

Modano finished the day with 20 points, followed by Hull, Romo and Rhoden all with 19. John Smoltz had 18, followed by Vinny Del Negro, Brett Saberhagen, Vince Coleman and Tim Brown at 17. Michael Jordan had 16.

Roenick said Rhoden is capable of putting up 30 points in a single round, but that Wagner is playing solid.

"I’ve got to try to get into Jack’s head a little bit tomorrow and let him know the athletes are coming after him," Roenick said. "Mentally he is a grinder, but physically, maybe, hopefully we’ll roll around in the sand a little bit tomorrow."

Wagner shot back, "I’ll kill him with my outfit. It’s about what you wear, dudes."

As usual, some of the biggest fan interest was at the bottom of the leaderboard where former NBA MVP Charles Barkley and actor Kevin Nealon entertained the gallery more with one-liners than their golf.

"Come on Charles, get it off the tee box," Nealon encouraged his playing partner on the par-3 No. 7.

He didn’t. It went about 10 yards. But Barkley’s next swing — a one-handed six iron — sent the ball 160 yards to the fringe of the green to loud cheers.

Nealon knocked his next shot only a few feet into a greenside sand trap, so it was Barkley’s turn to needle.

"Anybody have a half of a Snickers bar?" he asked the crowd as he waited for Nealon to try again.

Another big group was following a trio of actors — Ray Romano, Dennis Haysbert and Brian Baumgartner — although at least one fan didn’t know who all of them were.

As they waited to tee off on No. 18, the man mistook Haysbert for Jordan and yelled, "Michael, basketball has not been the same since you retired."

It drew a laugh from players and observers alike. Then, as Baumgartner — who plays the portly Kevin on NBC’s "The Office" — prepared to hit his drive, Romano shouted at him: "Same to you Larry Bird."

-- Scott Sonner