The cheering as Darren Clarke strode down the 18th fairway here yesterday was worthy of a victory march. But, with his parents, Godfrey and Hetty, among the attendance, the 28-year-old Ulsterman was keenly aware he had reached only the halfway stage of the 126th British Open.
His caution was well-founded, given the dramatic, late charge by Justin Leonard. For the entire afternoon, Clarke had led by three strokes from Jesper Parnevik, but, as shadows lengthened on the Ayrshire links, the 25-year-old American closed the gap to two after a sparkling 66.
A second round of 66 from Clarke meant he had equalled the record score of 133 for the first 36 holes of an Open at Troon, set by Bobby Clampett (67, 66) in 1982. Clarke has no intention, however, of repeating the American's disastrous tumble of that occasion, sparked by a third round of 78.
"I'm told Clampett was only 22 at the time," he said. "I consider myself a much more mature player. I feel very comfortable with my position right now and I am going to continue playing well." Then he added: "The cheering coming up the 18th was really special."
Even at this stage, parallels with Fred Daly are inevitable, not least because the 1947 Open champion hailed from Portrush, where Clarke lives with his wife, Heather. And Clarke would be more than delighted to settle at this stage for Daly's final 36-hole score at Troon in 1950.
On his way to a share of third place behind Bobby Locke, Daly shot a final 36 holes of 135 (69, 66), which remains a record for Troon, 47 years on. Either way, Clarke seems determined to enjoy the challenge of being in contention for his first victory in a major championship.
He had set out at 8.05 on a delightfully calm morning as the joint overnight leader with American Jim Furyk. After the opening four holes, however, he had carded three birdies to surge into the lead on his own. They came at the first, where he sank a 40-foot putt, the second, where a 10footer found the target, and the long fourth, where he set up a two-putt birdie by reaching the green with a three-wood second shot.
What mistakes there were came at the short fifth, where he pushed a four-iron wide of the green, and at the Postage Stamp eighth, where a poorly-hit wedge finished in the right bunker.
Eight-under facing the homeward journey, Clarke bogeyed the difficult 10th. Then came a priceless pitch-and-putt (five feet) save at the 12th, and he was set fair for home.
A 20-footer from the right fringe curled left to right before straightening crucially at the hole for a two at the short 14th. And yet another 20-footer went down for an improbable birdie at the long 16th, where he had driven into rough.
The blade had delivered a huge dividend. In fact, Clarke's return on the greens was so impressive that one of his playing partners, the 1996 US Open champion Steve Jones, couldn't resist remarking with a smile: "Darren should do quite well once he has sorted out his putting."
Seriously, Jones went on: "He is hitting the ball very solidly, his temperament is good and he has made very few mistakes. Looking at his play over the last two days, I reckon he has hit only three really wayward shots. But obviously the most important thing is that he has a hot putter. Let's hope it stays that way."
Asked was he nervous, Clarke replied: "Not at all. Obviously there's going to be pressure on Sunday, but at the moment, I'm enjoying myself. Despite a few detours out there, I like the way I'm playing."
Clarke turned professional in August 1990 after totally dominating the Irish amateur scene that year. Having started the season with a victory in the Spanish Amateur at El Saler, he went on to win the North of Ireland Championship and the South of Ireland, before beating Padraig Harrington in the final of the Irish Close at Baltray.
Such was his dominance that he felt it would be a waste of a year to wait for a Walker Cup place at Portmarnock in 1991. So he became one of the first clients of Chandler in the newly-established International Sports Management.
By most standards, Clarke did rather nicely on the tour, winning the 1993 Belgian Open and passing £1 million in tournament earnings before the end of the 1995 season. But he was jolted last autumn when his friend, Colin Montgomerie, accused him of under-achieving.
"When I thought about it, I realised Monty was right," he said. "But I felt I was working really hard on my game." Clarke's problem, however, had more to do with a lack of confidence born of shyness. And he responded by winning the German Masters last October.
The most significant development in his career so far, however, came during an eight-day period towards the end of last May. On Monday, May 19th, he beat Bernhard Langer by 2 and 1 in the European quarter-finals of the Andersen Consulting World Championship. And he knew he had played well enough to beat Costantino Rocca in the semifinals, before losing in sudden death.
Then came the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth the following weekend when he shot rounds of 66, 74, 66, 71 to be tied second with Ernie Els and Nick Faldo behind the winner, Ian Woosnam. "Finally, I began to believe in myself - I began to see myself as a good player," he said.
With its emphasis on statistics, golf doesn't deal gently with the game's spectacular failures. But Clarke has no wish to think about Clampett. "I was only 13 and barely even knew where Troon was at that time," he said. "This is my challenge and I intend to handle it my way."
