When stuck in a scoring rut, there's nothing quite like a long putt to lift a player's spirits. Darren Clarke knew the feeling at the short eighth here yesterday, en route to a fine 70 which assured him of making the cut for a second time in three years.

It equalled his best score around the Stadium Course, which came on the second day in 1999. It would have been marginally better, however, had it not been for a closing bogey after he had driven through the fairway at the treacherous 18th.

"To be honest, I had no thoughts of the cut; I was simply trying to score as good as I could," he said afterwards. "And I'm pleased with the way I played. Overall, I hit the ball very solidly in winds that freshened considerably as the round progressed."

Having shot a disappointing 75 on Thursday, Clarke remained at three over for the championship, playing the fifth. There, he eventually made serious headway by almost holing a nine-iron approach to set up a tap-in birdie. Three holes later, he got the lift he needed.

After over-clubbing off the tee at the 219-yard eighth, he was left with a horrendous putt of 60 feet, down the slope to a pin only seven yards in from the front of the green. It was a classic, three-putt situation. To his delight, however, Clarke saw the hole mercifully get in the way as his ball eased down the slope and then gathered pace ominously on approaching the target.

The pressure suddenly eased. And the Tyroneman went on to hit seven straight pars before carding a delightful birdie at the long 16th. There, after a fouriron second had come up short, on the downslope of a mound to the left, Clarke's L-wedge pitch was so perfectly judged that it barely slipped past the hole, making a birdie a formality.

Then came a punched eightiron to 30 feet below the hole - the sort of shot Tiger Woods was attempting to play - for a safe, two-putt par on the 17th. But the 18th was a disappointment. Despite coming to rest only a few feet off the fairway, he had no option other than to hack the ball back into play with a sandwedge.

"It would have been disappointing to miss the cut, insofar as I plan to remain here all next week," Clarke added. "That is the way I prepared for my first Masters in 1998, when he I finished eighth. So I'm hoping for an even better outcome, this time around."