Clarke fights back after opening five

Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke bounced back from a double-bogey five at his opening hole on Thursday to card a respectable one-under-par 70 in the first round of the British Open.

The world number nine, who tied for seventh in last year's Open championship at St Andrews, was especially pleased to finish with a flourish.

He birdied the last two holes to get right back into contention, five strokes behind early leader Colin Montgomerie.

"I hit two poor shots all day and to come back and shoot level is fantastic," the 33-year-old said. "It was really nice to finish birdie-birdie and get into the thick of it. I just now need the putter to warm up."

Clarke, playing alongside American Jim Furyk and Australian Peter O'Malley, got off to the worst possible start when he pushed his tee shot wide at the par-three first and plugged in a greenside bunker.

"I tried to hit a high one instead of punching it in there," he said. "I hit a six-iron and it plugged in the bunker. From there, I hit it out sideways but the ball came back and plugged back lip."

Thankfully for the Ulsterman, this time he splashed out to 35 feet, but the resultant two-putt gave him an ugly two-over-par five.

"Taking double at the first was not the way I wanted to start by any means. But I was fine going into the second tee and I just played my own game from there."

Clarke, one of the fancied European contenders for this week's British Open title, managed to get a stroke back when he birdied the par-four fourth. He then reached the turn in 36 after five straight pars.

A birdie-three on 11 was offset by a bogey-four at the 12th before he completed his round in style, holing birdie putts from 20 feet and 15 feet at 17 and 18.

"I had great control of the ball flight all day but with links golf, if you miss one shot at the wrong time at the wrong place, you are going to pay a penalty. That's what happened at the first.

"I also didn't birdie any of the par-fives today and the par-fives are definitely opportunities out there. Hopefully, I will be able to do that over the next few days."

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