• Irish Open, Round Two

'Fatigued' Clarke and Harrington miss cut

Darren Clarke paid the price for pushing too much late in his round © PA Photos

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Open champion Darren Clarke has missed the cut at the Irish Open after a sloppy finish to his round on Friday.

The Northern Irishman followed an opening round of 69 with a disappointing 74 at Killarney GC, making four bogeys and no birdies on the back nine as he came home in 40.

The final bogey of the collection came at the last, where he left a par putt agonisingly on the lip.

Frustrated after the way he finished, the Northern Irishman admitted that the rollercoaster ride of the last few weeks had probably caught up with him. "[I'm] not physically fatigued, just mentally fatigued," Clarke told Sky Sports.

"I was trying and trying on the back nine and just couldn't get anything going. All in all, I'm disappointed with my score but there is always next week."

His fellow Open champion Padraig Harrington can also start making other plans for the weekend, after he paired a 72 to his opening round of 73 to leave him stranded at three-over.

Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell restored some home pride, both moving to four-under with rounds of 68 and 66 respectively.

Germany's Marcel Siem hit a 66 to claim the tournament lead at ten-under, one shot ahead of Jeev Milkha Singh and Soren Hansen. Defending champion Ross Fisher lurks ominously at seven-under.

Twenty-two-year-old amateur Paul Cutler conjured up a round of 67 to put him six-under and level with the more experienced Damien McGrane.

Northern Irishman Cutler is looking to emulate Shane Lowry, who won this tournament as an amateur two years ago - although there was little to cheer for Lowry this week, as he carded a second round of 78 to finish 10-over for the tournament.

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