Carnoustie Diary

Unfortunate Welsh amateur Llewellyn Matthews unintentionally contributed to Ryder Cup player Luke Donald's horrendous start yesterday, where the Englishman followed up a double-bogey six on the third with a triple-bogey eight on the sixth on the way to a 76 for 146 that at least still enabled him to make the cut.

Just as Donald started his downswing on the sixth, Matthews and his caddie proceeded to replace the driver into his bag - and made an unholy clatter just before Donald's point of impact. Donald pulled his drive out of bounds.

But he later remarked: "It was just bad timing; these things happen. It was not on purpose. He is an amateur and here to have fun; it is not his fault. Sometimes clubs don't go all the way down the bag and they then slip down."

In fact, Donald was one player who could empathise with Matthews. Early in his professional career, Donald was undoing the Velcro on his glove at the wrong time just as Vijay Singh was teeing off. Of that incident, Donald commented: "I apologised to Vijay . . .. and I think did it again a few holes later!"

Donald refused to believe his second-round misfortunes had ruined his chances of winning: "This is not what I wanted, but you've got to believe that you can go out over the weekend and shoot a couple of 66s. It is possible."

Mickelson's report card: must do better

Phil Mickelson's next tournament is the Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio, where there is no cut.

Which is just as well for Lefty, who has missed the cut in three of his last four tournaments: the US Open at Oakmont, the National at Congressional and - after contending in last week's Scottish Open at Loch Lomond - here at Carnoustie.

"I've missed a lot of cuts lately, I better get better," said Mickelson, who double-bogeyed the 18th for a second-round 77 that left him on 148, six-over, and arguably the biggest casualty at Carnoustie.

Cool Faulkner controls sound and fury for McIlroy

Knowing Rory McIlroy would need an experienced man on the bag for his first British Open appearance, Darren Clarke knew just who to call . . . and asked Gordon Faulkner, who caddies at the Queenwood club outside London, where Clarke does much of his practice.

Faulkner had an inside track on the Carnoustie course, having caddied for the Australian Wayne Riley when he won the Scottish Open in 1996.

Stenson goes out of bounds and over the top

Henrik Stenson will be fined for lashing out and taking a lump out of a tee-marker.

One over par at the time, Stenson triple-bogeyed the short eighth. His first shot went out of bounds left, and when he put another ball down and flared that out to the right he swung round and did the damage.

European Tour chief referee John Paramor was there to meet Stenson at the end of the round - just after he had bogeyed the last to fall to five over par.

"I don't know how you react when you take a triple, but I get frustrated," Stenson said. "I didn't expect it to go OB, I got a bit frustrated and it showed obviously."