DONALD, WESTWOOD, HARRINGTON, McDOWELL MISS OPEN CUT

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE

It's still anybody's Open - there are only seven shots between the joint leaders on four-under-par 136 and the limit qualifying mark of three-over 143.
Darren Clarke, as proud as anyone about what is already a golden era for Irish golf, has the chance this weekend to add another chapter to the remarkable story.
Three weeks after he was present to celebrate Rory McIlroy's runaway US Open Championship win, the 42 year old shares the halfway lead in The Open Championship with American Lucas Glover.
Clarke has not had a top-ten finish in a Major for a decade, but a second successive 68 at Royal St George's takes him into the weekend on four under par.
And with the two first day pacesetters, English amateur Tom Lewis and Dane Thomas Björn, having rounds of 74 and 72 respectively, it is the hero of the 2006 Ryder Cup who will occupy centre stage when he tees off on Saturday.
Clarke was unbeaten that week at The K Club in a match played just six weeks after his wife Heather lost her fight with breast cancer.
Now engaged to a former Miss Northern Ireland, Alison Campbell, and back living in Portrush rather than Surrey, the father of two is old enough not to get carried away with the position he finds himself in.
Fourteen years on from his runner-up finish at Royal Troon, he said after sinking a 20 foot birdie putt on the last: "Obviously this is only after two rounds - there is an awful long way to go yet.
"And I believe the forecast for the weekend is very, very poor. I quite look forward to that, but the course is going to play very, very tough.
"If that's the case, then the tournament is still wide open for an awful lot of players and will be."
The fact remains, however, that he is two rounds from possibly joining a major club that now includes not only McIlroy, but also their fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell and Dubliner Padraig Harrington, the man who got the ball rolling when he had back-to-back Opens and then a US PGA Championship as well.
Clarke's round began with laughter.
"That was somebody whistling at me when I was bending over stretching," he explained.
"I said 'I hope that was a lady', but he whistled again, same guy. I'm doing something all wrong."
Not in his personal life, though.
"I've got a wonderful fiancee. Alison is a great girl and instrumental in my getting my life back on track," he added.
Clarke, lucky to be out in the calmer conditions on day two, owes his place in his 20th Open to taking the 30th and last exempt spot off last year's Race to Dubai by less than €2,000.
A double bogey on the fourth, where a chip came back down a steep slope, was cancelled out by an eagle putt of around 80 feet just three holes later.
Four birdies and three bogeys followed, but he had the lead in the clubhouse on his own for a mere ten minutes. Glover was in the following group.
Lewis saw 61 year old playing partner Tom Watson hole-in-one at the sixth in the day's most electrifying moment, but by scoring nine more than his lowest-ever round by an amateur in the event the 20 year old from Welwyn Garden City dropped out of the top ten.
Björn is now joint third with Spain's Miguel Angel Jiménez, German Martin Kaymer and American Chad Campbell.
Most early eyes had been on Young Tom and Old Tom - Lewis and five-time champion Watson.
Watson's ace with a four iron was the 15th hole-in-one of his life, his four iron hopping in on the first bounce.
The 2009 runner-up - he would have been the oldest Major Champion by 11 years if only he had parred the final hole at Turnberry - continued to amaze with a 70. On two over he made his 24th Open cut and extended his own record as the oldest man to play all four rounds.
Lewis had a television camera in his face the moment he left the practice putting green and, not surprisingly in the circumstances, could not repeat his first-day heroics.
He bogeyed the final two holes, avoiding going out of bounds on the last only by hitting a post, but he is still in the title hunt.
"I think if you asked me that two days ago I would have taken it, but at this moment it doesn't feel so good," he said.
Björn did well to limit the damage after a hat-trick of bogeys from the second.
"It wasn't the prettiest of days golf-wise, but I'll take where I stand in the championship right now," he commented.
McIlroy remains a threat at level par after a 69, but World Number One Luke Donald bogeyed the last four holes and missed the cut on six over.
Second-ranked Lee Westwood and former champion Harrington joined him in an early exit on four over - one shot too many.
1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie was one past Claret Jug winner who did make it through to the weekend action. He had a 70 for 143 - the limit mark for qualifying.
The only other Scot to get through was Stephen Gallacher on 141 (70-71). Martin Laird, Peter Whiteford, Scott Jamieson and Sandy Lyle were all counted out.
Apart from Lawrie, past Open champions who beat the cut are Stewart Cink (14), defending champion Louis Oosthuizen (142) and  the evergreen Tom Watson (142).
Nine past Open champions were eliminated - Harrington, Lyle, John Daly, Mark Calcavecchia, Ernie Els, Ben Curtis, Mark O'Meara, David Duval and Todd Hamilton.
The clubhouse target was set at four under par 136 by Glover and Clarke, trying to take his own ride on the wave of Irish success in golf these last few years.
Fourteen years on from his runner-up finish at Royal Troon and a decade on from his last top-ten finish in any of the Majors, the 42 year old Ulsterman sank a 20 foot birdie putt on the last for his second successive 68.Five years after losing his wife Heather to breast cancer he is engaged to Alison Campbell, a former Miss Northern Ireland he met in a blind date set up by compatriot Graeme McDowell."I've got a wonderful fiancée. Alison is a great girl and instrumental in my getting my life back on track."
Clarke owes his place in his 20th Open to taking the 30th and last exempt spot off last year's Race to Dubai by less than €2,000.
After practising first with Westwood and then with new US Open Champion Rory McIlroy - he stood level par with five holes to play - Clarke went about showing he still has what it takes, although his second circuit of the Kent course was a real roller-coaster.
A double bogey on the fourth, where a chip came back down a steep slope, was cancelled out by an eagle putt of around 80 feet just three holes later.
Four birdies and three bogeys followed, but he had the lead in the clubhoue on his own for a mere ten minutes.
In the following group America's 2009 US Open Champion Glover, without a top-20 finish in five previous trips to the event, parred the last eight holes for a 70.
Most early eyes had been on Young Tom and Old Tom – 20 year old Lewis and five-time champion Watson.
Watson's ace with a four iron was the 15th hole-in-one of his life, his four iron hopping in on the first bounce.
The 2009 runner-up - he would have been the oldest Major Champion by 11 years if only he had parred the final hole at Turnberry - continued to amaze with a 70 to make his 24th Open cut and extend his own record as the oldest man to play all four rounds.
Lewis had a television camera in his face the moment he left the practice putting green and, not surprisingly in the circumstances, could not repeat his first day heroics.
He bogeyed the final two holes, avoiding going out of bounds on the last only by hitting a post, and the Welwyn Garden City player is still in the title hunt.
"I think if you asked me that two days ago I would have taken it, but at this moment it doesn't feel so good," he said.
Lewis has only one rival for the Silver Medal that goes to the leading amateur who completes four rounds. Mind you, Peter Uihlein is quite a formidable opponent. The American has been ranked World 1 amateur. He is currently No 2 while Lewis is No 13. Lewis is tied 14th (the same mark as Phil Mickelson) on 139 (65-75); Uihlein tied 45th with a pair of 71s for 142.
Björn did well to limit the damage after a hat-trick of bogeys from the second.
"It wasn't the prettiest of days golf-wise, but I'll take where I stand in the championship right now," he commented.
McIlroy birdied the 13th and 14th, but bogeyed the next before getting up and down from a plugged lie in a bunker on the last for a 69 and level par aggregate of 140, only four shots off the pace in joint 19th position.
World No 1 Donald, though, was in desperate trouble. Three successive bogeys from the 15th left him needing a birdie at the last just to retain any hope of surviving the cut on four over. He bogeyed it so the Englishmen had gone from the sublime (winner of the Barclays Scottish Open last Sunday) to the ridiculous (failing to qualify for the last two rounds of the Open, perhaps not so ridiculous!).

QUALIFIERS FOR WEEKEND ACTION
+Players with three-over-par totals of 143 or better
qualified for the third and fourth rounds
Par 140 (2x70)

T1	CLARKE, Darren	18	NIR	68	68			136	-4
T1	GLOVER, Lucas	18	USA	66	70			136	-4
T3	CAMPBELL, Chad	18	USA	69	68			137	-3
T3	KAYMER, Martin	18	GER	68	69			137	-3
T3	BJORN, Thomas	18	DEN	65	72			137	-3
T3	JIMENEZ, Miguel Angel	18	ESP	66	71			137	-3
T7	LARRAZABAL, Pablo	18	ESP	68	70			138	-2
T7	SCHWARTZEL, Charl	18	RSA	71	67			138	-2
T7	LOVE III, Davis	18	USA	70	68			138	-2
T7	LEHMAN, Tom	18	USA	71	67			138	-2
T7	COETZEE, George	18	RSA	69	69			138	-2
T7	JOHNSON, Dustin	18	USA	70	68			138	-2
T7	HANSEN, Anders	18	DEN	69	69			138	-2
T14	SCOTT, Adam	18	AUS	69	70			139	-1
T14	MICKELSON , Phil	18	USA	70	69			139	-1
T14	LEWIS, Tom (amateur)	18	ENG	65	74			139	-1
T14	OVERTON, Jeff	18	USA	68	71			139	-1
T14	PALMER, Ryan	18	USA	68	71			139	-1
T19	STANLEY, Kyle	18	USA	68	72			140	Par
T19	KIM, Anthony	18	USA	72	68			140	Par
T19	YANG, YE	18	KOR	71	69			140	Par
T19	JOHNSON, Zach	18	USA	72	68			140	Par
T19	STRICKER, Steve	18	USA	69	71			140	Par
T19	SIMPSON, Webb	18	USA	66	74			140	Par
T19	ROCK, Robert	18	ENG	69	71			140	Par
T19	JACOBSON, Fredrik	18	SWE	70	70			140	Par
T19	DYSON, Simon	18	ENG	68	72			140	Par
T19	IKEDA, Yuta	18	JPN	69	71			140	Par
T19	McILROY, Rory	18	NIR	71	69			140	Par
T19	FOWLER, Rickie	18	USA	70	70			140	Par
T19	GARCIA, Sergio	18	ESP	70	70			140	Par
T32	LEVIN, Spencer	18	USA	72	69			141	+1
T32	JACQUELIN, Raphael	18	FRA	74	67			141	+1
T32	GREEN, Richard	18	AUS	70	71			141	+1
T32	SABBATINI, Rory	18	RSA	71	70			141	+1
T32	HOWELL III, Charles	18	USA	71	70			141	+1
T32	DAY, Jason	18	AUS	71	70			141	+1
T32	WATSON, Bubba	18	USA	69	72			141	+1
T32	ALLENBY , Robert	18	AUS	69	72			141	+1
T32	BOYD, Gary	18	ENG	71	70			141	+1
T32	GALLACHER , Stephen	18	SCO	70	71			141	+1
T32	CINK, Stewart	18	USA	70	71			141	+1
T32	NOH, Seung-Yul	18	KOR	69	72			141	+1
T32	McEVOY, Richard	18	ENG	69	72			141	+1
T45	FRAZAR, Harrison	18	USA	72	70			142	+2
T45	FERRIE, Kenneth	18	ENG	71	71			142	+2
T45	WILSON, Mark	18	USA	74	68			142	+2
T45	LUITEN, Joost	18	NED	73	69			142	+2
T45	IMMELMAN, Trevor	18	RSA	70	72			142	+2
T45	ROSE, Justin	18	ENG	72	70			142	+2
T45	FURYK, Jim	18	USA	72	70			142	+2
T45	OOSTHUIZEN, Louis	18	RSA	72	70			142	+2
T45	WATSON, Tom	18	USA	72	70			142	+2
T45	BARNES , Ricky	18	USA	68	74			142	+2
T45	HWANG, Jung-Gon	18	KOR	68	74			142	+2
T45	VAN PELT, Bo	18	USA	73	69			142	+2
T45	HAAS, Bill	18	USA	72	70			142	+2
T45	UIHLEIN, Peter (amateur)	18	USA	71	71			142	+2
T59	MOLINARI , Edoardo	18	ITA	69	74			143	+3
T59	STENSON, Henrik	18	SWE	72	71			143	+3
T59	ANDERSSON HED, Fredrik	18	SWE	68	75			143	+3
T59	DE VRIES, Floris	18	NED	70	73			143	+3
T59	HAVRET, Gregory	18	FRA	72	71			143	+3
T59	KHAN, Simon	18	ENG	71	72			143	+3
T59	WOODLAND, Gary	18	USA	75	68			143	+3
T59	MOORE, Ryan	18	USA	69	74			143	+3
T59	CHOI, K J	18	KOR	71	72			143	+3
T59	CASEY, Paul	18	ENG	74	69			143	+3
T59	BOURDY, Gregory	18	FRA	73	70			143	+3
T59	LAWRIE, Paul	18	SCO	73	70			143	+3
T59	MILLAR, Matthew	18	AUS	71	72			143	+3

MISSED THE CUT
T72 AIKEN, Thomas 18 RSA 74 70 144 +4
T72 MACPHERSON, Bryden (A) 18 AUS 71 73 144 +4
T72 HARRINGTON, Padraig 18 IRL 73 71 144 +4
T72 WESTWOOD, Lee 18 ENG 71 73 144 +4
T72 HOLMES, JB 18 USA 69 75 144 +4
T72 CANIZARES, Alejandro 18 ESP 73 71 144 +4
T72 LEONARD, Justin 18 USA 70 74 144 +4
T72 CRANE, Ben 18 USA 71 73 144 +4
T72 WILLETT, Danny 18 ENG 69 75 144 +4
T72 STORM, Graeme 18 ENG 70 74 144 +4
T72 MAHAN, Hunter 18 USA 75 69 144 +4
T72 FISHER, Ross 18 ENG 71 73 144 +4
T72 HANSON, Peter 18 SWE 73 71 144 +4
T72 O'HAIR, Sean 18 USA 73 71 144 +4
T72 KULACZ, Rick 18 AUS 74 70 144 +4
T87 WHITEFORD, Peter 18 SCO 70 75 145 +5
T87 SNEDEKER, Brandt 18 USA 75 70 145 +5
T87 McDOWELL, Graeme 18 NIR 68 77 145 +5
T87 WATNEY, Nick 18 USA 74 71 145 +5
T87 MANASSERO, Matteo 18 ITA 73 72 145 +5
T87 VILLEGAS, Camilo 18 COL 71 74 145 +5
T87 NOREN, Alexander 18 SWE 69 76 145 +5
T94 KARLSSON, Robert 18 SWE 72 74 146 +6
T94 CABRERA, Angel 18 ARG 72 74 146 +6
T94 DONALD, Luke 18 ENG 71 75 146 +6
T94 DALY, John 18 USA 72 74 146 +6
T94 DUFNER, Jason 18 USA 74 72 146 +6
T94 STREELMAN, Kevin 18 USA 76 70 146 +6
T94 SCHIETEKAT, Neil 18 RSA 73 73 146 +6
T101 MEESAWAT, Prom 18 THA 72 75 147 +7
T101 MARITZ, Martin 18 RSA 73 74 147 +7
T101 CORFIELD, Lee 18 ENG 72 75 147 +7
T101 KNUTZON, Jason 18 USA 75 72 147 +7
T101 HOFFMAN, Charley 18 USA 72 75 147 +7
T101 LAIRD, Martin 18 SCO 72 75 147 +7
T101 OGILVY, Geoff 18 AUS 74 73 147 +7
T101 POULTER, Ian 18 ENG 69 78 147 +7
T101 OLESEN, Thorbjorn 18 DEN 73 74 147 +7
T110 BJERREGAARD, Lucas (A) 18 DEN 73 75 148 +8
T110 LANGER, Bernhard 18 GER 75 73 148 +8
T110 TAKAYAMA, Tadahiro 18 JPN 70 78 148 +8
T110 BAE, SM 18 KOR 72 76 148 +8
T110 GARRIGUS, Robert 18 USA 74 74 148 +8
T110 CALCAVECCHIA, Mark 18 USA 69 79 148 +8
T110 MOLINARI, Francesco 18 ITA 73 75 148 +8
T110 HIRATSUKA, Tetsuji 18 JPN 75 73 148 +8
T110 ELS , Ernie 18 RSA 72 76 148 +8
T119 LYLE, Sandy 18 SCO 73 76 149 +9
T119 BYRD, Jonathan 18 USA 75 74 149 +9
T119 BARNES, Kurt 18 AUS 68 81 149 +9
T119 KENNEDY, Brad 18 AUS 77 72 149 +9
T119 NA, Kevin 18 USA 74 75 149 +9
T119 LASKEY, Mark 18 WAL 73 76 149 +9
T125 JAMIESON, Scott 18 SCO 75 75 150 +10
T125 MARINO, Steve 18 USA 74 76 150 +10
T125 GREEN, Nathan 18 AUS 74 76 150 +10
T125 BADDELEY, Aaron 18 AUS 77 73 150 +10
T125 SHADBOLT, Thomas 18 ENG 74 76 150 +10
T125 LILLY, Simon 18 ENG 74 76 150 +10
T125 TIDLAND, Chris 18 USA 77 73 150 +10
T132 KUCHAR, Matt 18 USA 74 77 151 +11
T132 LAM, Chih-Bing 18 SGP 76 75 151 +11
T132 JAIDEE, Thongchai 18 THA 75 76 151 +11
T132 FUJITA, Hiroyuki 18 JPN 75 76 151 +11
T132 CURTIS, Ben 18 USA 77 74 151 +11
T132 DAVIS, Brian 18 ENG 75 76 151 +11
T138 O'MEARA, Mark 18 USA 76 76 152 +12
T138 KIM, KT 18 KOR 75 77 152 +12
T138 ESTES, Bob 18 USA 74 78 152 +12
T141 WOOTTON, Adam 18 ENG 71 82 153 +13
T141 JOHNSTON, Andrew 18 ENG 74 79 153 +13
T141 KELLY, Jerry 18 USA 74 79 153 +13
T141 MARKSAENG, Prayad 18 THA 76 77 153 +13
T141 DAVIES, Rhys 18 WAL 75 78 153 +13
T141 McGUIRK, Francis 18 ENG 77 76 153 +13
T147 SMITH, Andy 18 ENG 81 73 154 +14
T147 QUIROS, Alvaro 18 ESP 75 79 154 +14
T147 ISHIKAWA, Ryo 18 JPN 74 80 154 +14
T150 KAWAI, Hiroo 18 JPN 75 80 155 +15
T150 DUVAL, David 18 USA 78 77 155 +15
152 HAMILTON, Todd 18 USA 77 79 156 +16
153 BRIER, Markus 18 AUT 77 80 157 +17
154 EDWARDS, Simon 18 WAL 82 79 161 +21
155 HINTON, Craig (amateur) 18 ENG 82 87