Clarke - chips during his first round (Getty Images)
Day Two, 2003 - Darren's Day
Darren Clarke saw a three-shot first-round lead wiped out as Tiger Woods
battled to keep his quest for an unprecedented third straight Masters title on
track.
Clarke carded a superb six-under-par 66 at Augusta National, three ahead of
Ryder Cup team-mate Sergio Garcia and a massive 10 shots clear of defending
champion Woods, who struggled to a 76.
But the Ulsterman could not repeat his brilliant form when the second round
started just an hour later, and ended the day two shots off the lead held by
Canada's Mike Weir.
Weir's opening 70 made him one of only seven players to break par on the
saturated course in the first round, and the left-hander finished strongly to
take over from Clarke at the top of the leaderboard.
Birdies at the second and third took Weir to six under par with six holes of
his second round to play before the siren sounded at 7.26pm local time, bringing
play to an end just four minutes short of 12 hours for the day.
In contrast, Clarke finished with back-to-back bogeys on the ninth and 10th to
lie four under par, two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson with US Amateur Champion
Ricky Barnes another shot back.
Woods was on the second tee, his 11th hole, when play was called off, the
world number one two over for the tournament and eight shots off the lead.
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