Darren Clarke opened with a 73 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship

Clarke's 69 followed a 73 in the first round in South Africa when he bogeyed three of his last four holes.

However, Friday's effort left him in joint 15th place, six shots behind leader South Africa's Omar Sandys who fired a second successive 68.

Stephen Browne shot a battling 71 to move to three under but Peter Lawrie is likely to miss the cut on four over.

Lawrie shot a fine 70 on Friday but his 148 total is likely to be one shot too many to progress to the weekend.

Dubliner Browne had a double-bogey and two bogeys in his opening nine holes on Friday to drop back to level par but he claimed three birdies during his second nine to undo the damage.

Clarke was out in a steady one-under-par 34 on Friday and while he suffered bogeys at 14 and 16, three back-nine birdies meant that he signed for a 69.