Darren Clarke had a two-stroke penalty removed from his scorecard after his first round in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond today, turning a two over par 73 into a 71.

Clarke, bidding to stop a string of missed cuts on both sides of the Atlantic, thought he had run up a quadruple bogey eight on the 415-yard 15th after hitting into a hazard and then knocking a cone off a tree as he took a practice swing before his next shot.

Clarke called for a referee and was originally told it was an extra two strokes, but before he signed his card European Tour chief referee John Paramor went through the incident and deemed it no penalty because it had not happened close enough to where the ball was.

"The drive was my bad shot of the day," said the Ryder Cup star. "I hit the ball much, much better, but was lukewarm on the greens."