Legends Tour rookie Cameron Clark was less than satisfied with his opening two-over round of 74 in his long-awaited return to the town in which he was born, but a five-under 67 in round two restored the smile to face and lifted him inside the top 20 going into the final round.
Despite six pars to start in prime scoring conditions, a birdie on the seventh kickstarted a run in which he added further birdies on nine, 10, 12, 14 and 15 to move to six-under for the day.
A bogey on 17 was the only blemish on his card, and, having opted to layup with the pin tucked tight to the water on the par-5 closing hole, his birdie putt – which would’ve seen him tie the low-round of the day had it dropped – just shaved the hole. But despite the minor frustrations of the final two holes, he was very happy with his day’s work.
“Yeah, it was,” he replied when asked if it was a lot of fun out there. “I played really good today, hit the ball a lot better. I did a bit of work before we left last night, particularly on the putting. I just couldn’t get it up to the hole yesterday and just sort of tried to go out today with a bit of a different mindset and I holed some nice puts, which was great.”
With winds gusting north of 50 kmph on Friday, the relatively calm conditions on Saturday were welcomed by most of the field and Clark was among those who took full advantage.
“It was obviously a lot calmer than it was yesterday, you know,” he said. “I just found it a tough day yesterday. I didn’t have great control on the golf ball, so today it just felt a lot better.
“You know, I played the two par-5s nicely – 9 and 10 – and then holed a good one at 12 and, played the par-3 14th nicely, hit a good shot in there and holed it, then made a ‘three’ on 15 as well.
“So yeah, it was good. And I think I had five birdies in seven holes, I think, maybe something like that, which is great.”
He admitted to being tempted to go for the green on the last after launching a huge drive right up the centre of the fairway, but there is always the potential for a big number on Galgorm Castle’s 18th and caution prevailed.
“There was definitely,” he said when asked if there was a thought of taking on the green. “It’s just such a tight flag and I had 252 [yards] to the flag, We just didn’t think in the position we were in that it was worth going for it.
“There’s obviously a lot of trouble around the green with the water and the rough on the right, the bunkers on the right. So yeah, we wanted to leave ourselves a yardage, which we did and, yeah, just obviously a bit disappointed not to make birdie, but all in all, a good day.
“I am starting to put some good stuff together. I’ve been working really hard, and it’s starting to pay off a little bit, which is good, but I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can and I think there’s a lot to be said for that.
“And hopefully we’re here talking and smiling again after another good one tomorrow.”
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