Darren Clarke backed up his opening 67 with a three-under 69 on day two of the PGA Champions Tour’s Principal Charity Classic in Des Moines, but he lost ground on a birdie fest at Wakonda Club.
Coming in off the back of a second successive win at the American Family Insurance Championship – this time alongside Ben Crane having partnered Thomas Bjorn to success in last year’s staging – the 2011 Open champion began the day in a tie for seventh but though he managed to keep bogeys off the card, he could only find birdies on three of the 18 holes and fell 12 places into a tie for 19th going into the third and final round.
Birdies weren’t a problem for Zach Johnson who made nine of them, including five-in-a-row on the front nine, in a bogey-free 63 that saw him push his way to the head of affairs where he was later joined by fellow American Brett Quigley and Australian Scott Hend.
Johnson’s was the low round of the day and puts him in position to claim his second win in what is just his eighth start on the senior circuit, while Hend, winner of the recent Trophy Hassan II in Morocco, could also join Stewart Cink as the only other player to claim two wins in the campaign if he gets over the line.
The trio of Retief Goosen, Soren Kljeldsen and David Brandson are tied for fourth at -10, one shot behind the leaders, while Jose Maria Olazabal is one of three players tied for seventh at -9, two shots back.
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