• Open Championship, Plays of the Day, Round Two

Major Tom and a lucky break

Tom Watson soaked up the applause after his hole-in-one at the sixth © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: McIlroy delighted with position
  
• Profile: Tom Lewis

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

Major Tom
He may have been outshone by amateur Tom Lewis on Thursday, but veteran Tom Watson showed the young buck a thing or two on Friday, rolling back the years with a sublime hole-in-one at the sixth. The 61-year-old reached the green with his tee-shot at the 178-yard par-three, and the ball bounced up on the turf before disappearing into the hole. The five-time Open champion raised his arms in triumph, and was congratulated with high-fives from playing partners Henrik Stenson and Lewis.

Monster putt
Darren Clarke grabbed a share of the clubhouse lead with a second consecutive 68. Five birdies certainly helped his cause, but a sublime eagle putt at the seventh was the highlight of his round. Having bogeyed the hole on Thursday, Clarke well and truly banished his demons. Finding himself with a monster 90-foot putt at the front of the green, Clarke went for broke and struck the ball with purpose, and it sailed towards the hole, hitting the flag and dropping in for three. "I had a good tee shot and I had 250 [yards] to the flag," Clarke said. "I was trying to take a lot of yardage off it but I it hit over front edge [of the green] and that's the hole from there. It was a good putt, but obviously I was lucky at that sort of range."

A good break
Masters champion Charl Schwartzel hit a spectator on the head on 14th, but the South African was grateful to the unlucky fan. "I hit my three-wood a bit left, and it caught someone on the head," Schwartzel said. "It was actually a good break, it ran up into the bunker. I felt sorry for the guy, but it's one of those things."

McIlroy magic
The US Open champion was much more like his true self on Friday, peppering pins with regularity in his round of 69. It did not look like he had much chance of firing at the pin on the 12th, after his drive drifted off the fairway and came to rest in the middle of a weed. It was a truly horrible lie, but he picked out his wedge and lashed through and under the ball, in a bid to check the bounce. The ball flew high in the air and it looked precarious with the bunker lurking at the back of the green, but somehow he was able to get it to bounce softly and it came to rest within 15 feet. The putt was missed, but from the lie it could have been far worse than a par.

Dismal Donald
The curse of winning the week before the Open struck again, and in some style, as world No. 1 Luke Donald missed the cut. He was just about hanging on when he approached his second shot on 17, aware that three-over would leave him just seven off the lead, but he plonked the ball into a greenside bunker. That should have been penalty enough, but to wander up and find the ball virtually buried was a crime. It took two hits to get out and his normally assured wedge play had a resigned look to it on 18 as he failed to find the short stuff from just off the green and a bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey finish left a dirty look to his card.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.