Clearly, Clarke Is the One to Beat

Darren Clarke, a reformed hothead from Portrush, Northern Ireland, kept his cool and the second-round lead of the British Open at Royal Troon.

Quite unexpectedly, it was a pleasant, sunny day on Scotland’s Ayrshire Coast, where the weather can turn on you faster than you can say “gorse.”

As a matter of fact, the only wind associated with the place Friday was the air being displaced by flying golf balls as they rushed to the nearest flagstick.

This is precisely what Justin Leonard accomplished in a span of three holes on the front when he eagled not once, but twice, on his way to a 66.

“It was like a Palm Springs day in the wintertime,” said Tom Kite, who had a 67. Of course this is Scotland in July.

Certainly the meteorological conditions appealed to Clarke, 28, who has one tournament victory in the last four years. He trounced Troon on his way to a five-under-par 66, a 36-hole score of nine-under 133 and a two-shot lead over Leonard.

Jesper Parnevik, the sand-eating son of a Swedish comedian, flipped up the bill of his cap and turned in a five-under 66 to move to within three shots of Clarke’s lead.

Fred Couples played a bogey-free 68 and is four shots behind at 137. He is tied with 22-year-old David Tapping of England, who has missed the cut in nine of 15 European Tour events this year, but whose 66 is his best round of the year.

Couples has five top-10 finishes in his last seven British Opens, but he has spent a lot of time not playing golf recently. Couples has played only five times since he finished seventh at the Masters.

Couples’ father, Tom, has leukemia and golf has not been as high a priority in his life.

“I would love to win another major tournament,” Couples said. “But you know, this has been a difficult year.”

Kite and Jim Furyk are tied for sixth at 139 going into the weekend. Like everyone else, they’re chasing Clarke.

Reunited with the caddie he fired last year and determined not to be too hard on himself, Clarke was a picture of a mellow putter. He made eight birdies, five of them with putts that seemed to roll in all the way from Prestwick.

Each of those birdie putts covered 20 feet, which meant one thing to Clarke as he stood there all five times next to caddie Bill Foster on those bumpy greens.

“They’ve all gone in,” Clarke said.

Of course, it’s not something that happens all the time. But this is a new, mood-enhanced Clarke and so far, it’s paying off.

“I’m more relaxed this year than I have been in the past,” he said. “My caddie has come back and we’ve got on very well. I’m just generally more happy.

“I don’t get so annoyed with myself now, whenever I don’t hit a shot I like.”

Leonard liked the five-iron shots he hit on Nos. 4 and 6. He stroked a 15-foot putt into the hole to eagle the 557-yard fourth, then nailed a 20-footer for a second eagle on the 577-yard sixth.

“When I knocked that putt in, I figured that was probably the last eagle putt I was going to have for the day,” he said. “To go two out of two feels pretty good.”

Meanwhile, some of the big names need to start making moves in a hurry.

Tiger Woods is 13 shots off the lead after a 74. Greg Norman’s 73 dropped him to par 142, nine shots behind. Ernie Els is 11 shots from the leader, the same as Nick Faldo after a 73. Hometown favorite Colin Montgomerie is at 145 despite a 69, mainly because he started with a 76 and spent most of the day holding his head in his hands.

For Parnevik, his personal habits border on the, well, unusual.

His diet includes volcanic sand, which is supposed to clean his system. He also likes stovepipe slacks, reads books about chess and dreams and carries a meditation pillow with him on the road.

He may be best known for his cap, which he wears with the bill turned up, and for not looking at the scoreboard down the stretch at the 1994 British Open. Parnevik thought he needed to birdie the 18th at Turnberry when he actually needed a par, but wound up with a bogey and lost to Nick Price by one shot.

The tradition continued Friday. One day after he birdied four of the last five holes to become the only one to play the back nine under par, Parnevik changed putters for the second round.

Go figure. It certainly didn’t seem like such a big deal when he hit driver and two-iron on No. 4, then made a six-foot putt for eagle.

Parnevik also made an unusual par on No. 18, where he hit his drive over the grandstand. His eight-iron from 200 yards found a fairway bunker, and his sand wedge reached the front of the green, from where he rolled in a 50-footer.

After that putt dropped, Parnevik found a deeper appreciation for the British Open experience.

“It is pretty much the only tournament that makes your hair stand up when you play it,” he said.

That’s certainly true, even when the wind isn’t blowing.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

BRITISH OPEN: THE LEADERS

Darren Clarke: 67-66--133 -9

Justin Leonard: 69-66--135 -7

Jesper Parnevik: 70-66--136 -6

Fred Couples: 69-68--137 -5

David Tapping: 71-66--137 -5

Jim Furyk: 67-72--139 -3

Tom Kite: 72-67--139 -3

Angel Cabrera: 70-70--140 -2

Jay Haas: 71-70--141 -1

Tom Watson: 71-70--141 -1

Mark Calcavecchia: 74-67--141 -1

Davis Love III: 70-71--141 -1

* COMPLETE SCORES C10