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| |  Friday, 12 April, 2002, 20:42 GMT 21:42 UK Harrington stays in touch Harrington lines up his eagle putt on the 15th green Ireland's Padraig Harrington shot a second round 70 to remain in contention at the US Masters. Harrington's five under par total of 139 left him four strokes behind clubhouse leader, 2000 champion Vijay Singh who shot a magnificent 65. The Dubliner's compatriot Darren Clarke, though, dropped nine strokes behind leader Singh after hitting a disappointing 74. After shooting an opening day 69 to lie two behind first round leader Davis Love, Harrington looked on course for his another sub-70 round when getting to six under after 15. But the 30-year-old found sand at the 17th to drop a shot and he needed a brave 10 footer at the last to prevent another concession to par. The Irishman had started in heavy rain with an approach to three feet on the 435-yard first earning an initial birdie.
As conditions improved he gave that gain back by over-shooting the green at the short fourth and being unable to get up and down. But when he birdied the ninth and 10th, two of the toughened-up holes, the 30-year-old Dubliner was back to five under. A dropped shot at 13 was followed by two successive birdies with Harrington's eagle putt on the 15th green lipping out. Despite his steady round, Harrington claimed to not feeling overly confident with his game. "I didn't feel very comfortable coming in yesterday and I didn't feel comfortable today but I was prepared for it," said Harrington. "I hit the shots I wanted to hit, which was quite nice because I'm not feeling that comfortable.
"It's good to shoot a good score when you're feeling that way," added the Irishman. Clarke, two under par on Thursday, parred every hole on the front nine, but lipped out from short range on the 10th for a bogey. He then parred the next four holes before picking up a birdie at the long 15th. However, Clarke finished in disappointing fashion by dropping shots at the 16th and 18th. Belfast's British amateur champion Michael Hoey was making a determined effort to make the cut. Hoey, who shot a 75 on Thursday, hooked his drive at the first to drop a shot but he parred the next eight holes to turn in 37. A birdie at the 10th moved Hoey back to his starting position of three over but he dropped a stroke at the 14th. That left Hoey in joint-49th place with only the top 44 and ties qualifying for the final 36 holes. Paul McGinley, level par after the first round, was one over par after 13 holes. Play was suspended at 2152 BST because of torrential rain. | |
 
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