Darren Clarke continued his good form of late to move into a share of the lead in the Scandinavian Masters on eight-under par with Sweden’s Peter Hedblom today.
There has been an air of inevitability that Clarke’s name would feature on top of leaderboards in recent weeks.The Tyroneman has had four top ten finishes in his last five starts.
It started with a runner-up finish in the Irish Open last month then the following week he went one better to become the first Irish man to win on home soil in 19 years by claiming the lucrative European Open at the K-Club.
In the run up to the British Open the world number eight finished seventh in the Scottish Open before challenging to the end at Lytham and eventually tied for third place.
Clarke got off to a roller-coaster start in today’s round with two bogeys and two birdies in the opening four holes before steadying the ship with a run of five pars to take him to the turn in level par 37.
Having started on the back nine, he made the ideal start to his inward half with birdies at the first and second.Despite missing a good birdie opportunity at the eighth for the outright lead, Clarke finished with a 70 to add to yesterday’s opening 66.
Hedblom, playing in his home country this week, also shot 70 with a card which contained two birdies and no dropped shots for his share of the lead.
England’s Warren Bennett was in second place on his own on seven-under after he too, carded a 70.The 29-year-old will hope to make amends for a somewhat lame finish in last week’s Dutch Open.
The 1999 Scottish PGA winner led by two shots with three holes to play but surrendered his advantage to allow Bernhard Langer to catch him.The German, who is in inspired form going for a Ryder Cup place, then claimed the title after Bennett three-putted the first sudden-death hole.
Colin Montgomerie added to yesterday’s 66 by moving to seven-under after five holes while the defending champion Lee Westwood made an early slip back to four-under through five holes when he bogeyed the third hole.
David Higgins, the only other Irishman in the field, will not be around for the weekend as the Waterville professional is eight-over par after 10 holes.