Darren Clarke had been on five under after nine holes on Thursday

Darren Clarke missed the cut by five shots at the Madrid Masters after firing a poor four-over 76 on Friday.

Clarke was five under after nine on Thursday before losing ground to hit a 69 and his slide continued on Friday as he ended his week on one over.

Michael Hoey (69) and Gareth Maybin (68) are seven off the pace on six under par.

Gary Murphy is the leader Irishman on 12 under - one shot behind leaders Sergio Garcia and David Drysdale.

Murphy shot a superb 65 on Friday while left him tied with Italy's Emanuele Canonica and England's Ross McGowan.

Irish Open champion Shane Lowry is only three shots off the pace after firing a brilliant 63 on Friday.

Lowry is now in contention for his best performance since his shock victory at Baltray in May.

Peter Lawrie is five behind the leaders after firing a 67 on Friday while Damien McGrane (71) joined Hoey and Maybin on six under.

First-round leader Manuel Quiros dropped back to nine under after a 73 which was 11 shots more than his Thursday score.

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