• Open Championship, Round Two

Clarke leads as McIlroy digs deep

Darren Clarke made the most of the beautiful conditions on Friday morning © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: 'Old guy' Watson savours 'lucky' hole-in-one
  
• News: Clarke credits putting lesson for fine Open start
  
• Features: Conditions encourage mind over matter for early leaders
  
• News: McIlroy delighted with position
  
• News: What They Said
  
• Profile: Darren Clarke | Luke Donald | Graeme McDowell | Rory McIlroy | Phil Mickelson | Lee Westwood
• Gallery: Round Two

ESPN will be providing comprehensive coverage of the Open Championship, with live scores, news and all the reaction from Royal St George's

Rory McIlroy ground his way into contention at the halfway stage of the Open Championship, but his fellow Ulsterman Darren Clarke hogged the headlines by securing a share of the lead.

McIlroy looked far sharper than in his opening round of 71 on Thursday, as he repeatedly peppered the pins. The short stick let him down as a number of birdie putts were left above ground. But he still made four birdies in a round of 69 and sits just four shots off the lead.

That lead is held by Clarke who began his charge with a superb eagle putt at the seventh followed by a birdie at eight. He mixed bogeys with birdies in equal measure on the back nine, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt at the 18th to finish with a flourish and sign for his second consecutive 68.

At four-under-par, Clarke holds the clubhouse lead with American Lucas Glover, who remains firmly in contention with a second-round 70.

McIlroy is lurking menacingly four shots adrift, as he has yet to click into gear. He produced brilliant approach shots on one and two but in what proved to be his undoing for the entire round, he saw both putts slide by.

The US Open champion did make a solid par putt on three and it appeared to give him confidence as birdies on six and seven were just reward for some fine striking.

The huge galleries were fully behind McIlroy but the expected charge did not materialise, as he gave the shots back on eight and 10.

It looked like he would charge home when finding birdies on 13 and 14, but he found a bunker off the tee on 15 and at Sandwich than usually means bogey. It did, as a 15 footer slid by on the right. He came home with three pars, with the one on 18 particularly praiseworthy as he was plugged in a greenside bunker but got up and down for a par - which prompted a clenched fist of delight.

Clarke's good friend Lee Westwood suffered a more testing day, slipping to four-over and missing the cut as his putter continued to look like a stranger around the greens. The world No. 2 has finished in the top three of his last five majors and hasn't missed a cut since the 2008 PGA Championship, but his second-round 73 saw him slip way down the leaderboard.

After grabbing the headlines on Thursday, Tom Lewis showed no signs of withering under the spotlight as the joint overnight leader took to the course on Friday morning, showing a mature head on his young shoulders as he parred his opening three holes.

While all the talk was about Lewis, the 20-year-old was overshadowed by playing partner Tom Watson, 41 years his senior, who rolled back the years with a sublime hole-in-one at the sixth. Buoyed by his ace, Watson picked up a birdie at the seventh, but all his good work was undone by three straight bogeys as he ended the day two-over-par.

Tom Watson soaks up the applause © Getty Images

Enlarge

The wheels threatened to come off Lewis' round as he dropped shots at four and six. Another bogey followed at the 12th, but Lewis showed impressive strength of character to bounce back with a birdie at 13. He overshot the green at the last, finishing with a bogey to sign for a 74 to remain in the mix at one-under-par.

Overnight leader Thomas Bjorn slipped back slightly, as a 72 took him to three-under, but the Dane just about kept his round together in the blustery conditions and he retains hope of going one better than in 2003.

Martin Kaymer has been struggling with his game since tweaking but he fired an excellent 69 to move to within one of the lead, while Masters champion Charl Schwartzel is in the hunt at two-under.

While Lewis has been the surprise package at Royal St George's, a number of the big names have failed to live up to expectation. At the start of the day, Graeme McDowell was just three strokes off the lead, but the former US Open champion missed the cut after seeing his challenge unravel as he slumped to a second-round 77.

Despite the benign conditions, McDowell was unable to take advantage, and after dropping shots at three, six and eight, a double bogey left the Ulsterman with a real uphill struggle as he turned at five-over for the day. Things didn't get any better on the back nine as two further bogeys saw him slump to five-over.

Sandwich will not play host to the world No. 1 at the weekend, as Luke Donald missed the cut following a dismal start and finish to his round. A 71 on Thursday left him well placed to strike, but he bogeyed three of his opening four holes to drift to the brink of the cut mark. A couple of birdies raised hope, but a bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey finish took him back to six-over.

Former two-time Open champion Padraig Harrington finished one stroke better off than McDowell but he too missed the cut, after he failed to record a sub-par total for the second day in succession. Harrington never found any hint of consistency as he limped to a 71, leaving him on four-over.

Phil Mickelson remains a threat at Sandwich, after the four-time major champion shot a 69 to remain firmly in contention.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.