Golf: Campbell's eyes on Britain

Michael Campbell's form in the lead up to the British Open has been disappointing, but he's not rethinking his preparation strategy. Picture / Reuters

Michael Campbell's last dress rehearsal before the British Open ended prematurely when he missed the cut in the Smurfitt European Open by one shot yesterday.

Campbell, who will miss this week's Scottish Open in favour of preparing directly for the British tournament at the Royal Liverpool club, hit a three-over par 75 in the second round at the K Club, Ireland, to miss qualifying for the final two days by a stroke. He started poorly, with a bogey at the par-5 third hole, but steadied the ship until the back nine where he bogeyed the 11th and 13th holes as well as the par-3 17th, before birdying the last.

Campbell is mirroring his approach to last year's Open - where he finished a highly creditable fifth following his US Open triumph last year - by not playing in the week before the major tournament.

"It is just common sense to warm up for the Open by practising on the host venue or a similar links course," he said, adding that the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond was contested on a very different style of course.

However, Campbell will still not be happy with his form. He won the European Open four years ago and missed victory in the French Open by a whisker last week when he found the water at the final hole, gifting victory to England's John Bickerton.

Meanwhile, Bradley Dredge holed a two-foot birdie putt on the last to edge a stroke in front of fellow Welshman Stephen Dodd to lead the European Open at the halfway mark. After Dodd had set the pace with a morning three-under 69 for 136, eight-under, Dredge carded a 70, a second successive flawless round.

In an effort to tie down a victory after letting several chances slip away, Dredge will try a new approach in his attempt to add to his sole title, the 2003 Madeira Island Open.

"I've had a lot of chances to win but didn't, so it's a matter of converting one into a victory," Dredge said. "I'll try and play a bit more aggressively this time and see if that works."

The pair could be threatened by a determined Darren Clarke. His 68 left him two strokes off the lead, in third place, as he made his bid to add to his 2001 European Open success and make up for the disappointment of narrowly missing out on the Irish Open title in May.

With his wife Heather seriously ill with cancer, Clarke can play only a limited schedule and needs to take advantage of his few appearances.

"It's important I don't throw in the towel," Clarke told reporters. "Things are tough for me at the minute but when I come out, I want to play the best I can. Today I got a couple of good breaks but it was a case of grinding it out."