Darren Clarke goes into the final round of the PGA Champions Tour’s Chubb Classic five shots in arrears of solo-leader Justin Leonard, but the Dungannon man will feel he should be within touching distance as his par-5 scoring let him down in round two.
A five-under 67 in round one was an ideal start to the week, but it could’ve easily been a few strokes lower as a late bogey and a double saw him ship three shots over the closing three holes. He looked to have banished those from his mind when he began round two with birdies on one and three, but his momentum was again halted with another double, this time coming at the par-5 sixth hole having dumped his third shot in the water.
He closed out the opening nine with a bogey to slip the wrong side of par, but then three birdies in the first seven holes on the back nine got him back to within four of the lead when he reached the par-5 18th.
But in a case of deja vu, he found the hazard with his approach shot again, but this time he was able to limit the damage to a single stroke and slipped back to -6 after signing for a one-under 71.
Fellow Open Championship winner Justin Leonard has come through to head the field after following his opening 68 with a 65 in round two, and he sits one clear of Ernie Els who shot matching 67s over the first two days.
“Got off to just a really nice start,” Leonard summarised afterwards. “I had some wedges early on and I was fortunate to get quite a few of those inside of five or six feet.
“And then reading the putts correctly, making them, and just really kind of fell into a nice rhythm with the round. You know, unfortunate to make bogey there at 17. You know, it’s a tough hole so it’s not certainly the end of the world, but then nice to get one back at 18 and finish on a good note.
“You know, it was a fun day. It was solid. I think the wind was up enough to where it had my full attention all day long, and that’s a good thing.”
Els, having won the season-opening event in Hawaii and finishing in third place in Morocco, plans to have another big say in the final round but he feels that it’s far from a two-horse race between Leonard and himself.
“Yeah, I mean, Justin is obviously playing well, you know, he’s up. Let’s see what happens tomorrow. Let’s see conditions,” he said.
“But just want to play solid golf, stay in it. Got a bit of a run here today, but, you know, it’s going to be a tough day and he’s a tough competitor. So are about ten other guys within three shots.
“You know, try and get going and shoot a good score.”
Paul Stankowski lies solo third at -8, with a six-strong group at -7, one ahead of Clarke who goes into the final round tied for 11th.
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