Darren Clarke hoisted the Claret Jug back in 2011.
It remains the crowning highlight of his storied career.
Clarke got off to a nice start Thursday at the Senior Open with a two-under par 68 that put him right in the thick of the hunt at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s.
Clarke was a shot behind leaders Wes Short Jr., Scott Dunlap and Paul Broadhurst when play was called for the day due to darkness. A weather delay kept the entire field from finishing. Scott Parel and Ken Duke were both on the course at three-under. Parel had one hole to finish and early on Friday morning, posted 67 while Duke came in at 68.
Tied with Clarke at 68 was European Tour stalwart Colin Montgomerie.
Tom Lehman, who won the 1996 Open Championship on this course, finished his first round with an even par 70.
The second round will start Friday after the completion of the first round. The tee times were moved up in anticipation of bad weather on Friday.
Overall, conditions were good for the field on Thursday. There was a steady, 10-15 mile-per-hour wind but it was a sunny day until thunder and lightning in the area brought the delay.
Lingmerth Leads At The Barracuda:
The PGA Tour makes sure that the lower tier guys have a place to play when those WGC events take the spotlight.
That opposite-field event this week is the Barracuda Championship out in Reno, NV., at the Montreux Golf Club.
Instead of stroke scores, this event uses the Modified Stableford system for scoring. Players get five points for an eagle, two for a birdie, zero for a par. If you’re lucky enough to score a rare doublel-eagle, it’s eight points. It also punishes poor play. Minus one point per bogey, minus three for doubles or worse.
First round leader is David Lingmerth with a whopping 18 points. That was five better than the three players tied at 13 — Robert Streb, Tom Hoge and Tyrone Van Aswegen.
