British Open 2019: Darren Clarke misses the cut in heartbreaking fashion

Darren Clarke wasted little time shaking hands and making his way off the 18th green at Royal Portrush on Friday afternoon.

Perhaps he didn’t want the stinging feeling to linger.

Clarke three-putted the par-4 18th and made a triple-bogey, which will more than likely force him to miss the cut at the Open Championship, which is at Royal Portrush for the second time ever and first time since 1951. Clarke shot 74 and finished three over overall.

For Northern Irishmen like Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Clarke, this week means a lot, and of course none of them want to miss the weekend. Now it seems Clarke, who played a significant role in getting The Open to return to Portrush, will.

Clarke, the 2011 Open champion, was even on the day and even for the tournament when he got to the 18th on Friday, but that’s where he ran into trouble. With the cut line expected to land at either one or two over, he needed to get in with at least a bogey to stick around for the weekend, and even a double bogey might have been good enough. But he found a fairway bunker from the tee and later had a long lag putt for bogey. He knocked that to about four feet and missed that putt out to the right, making triple and finishing three over for the week.

Clarke was quick to exchange pleasantries with his playing partners before heading off the green. He declined to speak to the media. You can follow the entire second round here.

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