GOLF - Clarke survives day to forget

Northland's Dale Clarke had a day to forget at the Carrus Tauranga Open yesterday but still survived the cut for today's third round.
"Every golfer knows when it's not your day, it's not your day; nothing really went right for me today," Clarke said after his round.
A disastrous three holes yesterday morning soured a fantastic start to the open on Thursday. After recording a three-under 67, Clarke was among the leaders after the first round, but yesterday he hit his first ball out of bounds and on the third hole got a ball stuck in a tree, resulting in more dropped shots.
He recovered to finish the round without further disaster, recording a five-over 75 to take him to +2 and make the cut, which was expected to be +4.
Another Australian-based professional, Peter Fowler, leads the Srixon-sponsored Charles Tour event on 10-under after two rounds of 65.
Clarke remained upbeat about his chances and returned to the Tauranga Golf Club to practise yesterday afternoon.
"I doubt that I can win it from here but I'd like to get back on to the leaderboard by Sunday," he said.
Wellsford's Brad Bonnington also struggled yesterday. After scoring an even-par first round, he spent most of his round hovering around the cut mark, but faded over the final few holes to finish on +7.
Northland professional Alex Tait scored a pair of two-over scores to sit right on the cut, blaming an ice-cold putter for his predicament. Gary John Hill was one of the last golfers on the course yesterday and, after firing a +3 on Thursday, he scored a good three-under 67 to be the best of the Northlanders on even par.
Another Northlander, Caroline Bon, was well off the pace in the women's event, trailing Auckland's Celia Cho (three-under) by more than 30 shots.
Clarke is taking a break from a demanding schedule of PGA tournaments in Australia. The first-year professional returned for a fundraiser at Sherwood Park last weekend, where he raised almost $7000 to fund his career.
"It was great to be back home and catch up with people. It was a good turnout but everyone still had fun, I think," he said.
Clarke flies back to Queensland on Monday and plans a month playing in tournaments in Samoa and Fiji before heading back to his Victoria base.