EUROPEAN OPEN DIARY

A round up of today's other European Open stories in brief...

Monty wears heart on his sleeve

IF NOT exactly known for his sartorial elegance, Colin Montgomerie was asked after his second round if there was a "match within a match" with his playing partner Ian Poulter.

"Well, I don't often chase men in pink," responded Monty, "but, at the same time, today he always seemed to be level with me or one ahead . . . we've finished level and might be playing together again tomorrow. Let's hope he wears a different colour."

Monty, who shot a 67 for 137, to be among a group of players in tied-fifth position, had a wee altercation with a TV cameraman at one stage of his round yesterday.

"There was a cameraman in a buggy in my eyeline at the 13th and he didn't want to move . . . but he did eventually. I asked him politely to move. I said to him, 'Excuse me sir, may you move please?'"

You can take it that Monty's tone was a little more forceful and the language a little more to the point.

McIlroy makes no mistake at eighth

THESE GUYS play a different game to the rest of us, as Rory McIlroy demonstrated in eagling the eighth hole. Faced with a 206-yard approach to the par five, the Ulster teenager reached into his bag and took out . . . . an eight-iron.

The result? McIlroy flew the ball 190 yards and watched as it ran 15 feet past the hole. Of course, he sank the eagle putt to make up for the double-bogey he'd earlier recorded on the 18th, his ninth, where he put his drive into the water down the left side of the fairway.

"I've got myself into a position to have a good finish over the weekend. I'm just a bit wasteful at times and I want to eradicate some of the stupid mistakes that creep in. If I can make sure I keep mistakes out of my game for the next couple of days, I'll be in good shape," said McIlroy, who added a 71 to his opening 67 for 138.

He reached the midway point in tied-11th, seven strokes adrift of midway leader Ross Fisher.

DQ adds insult to Clarke's MC

DARREN CLARKE blissfully signed autographs outside the recorder's hut knowing he wouldn't get the chance to do so over the weekend, as a second round 75 meant he had missed the cut for a second successive tournament.

Unbeknownst to Clarke, his playing partner - Pádraig Harrington - had inadvertently given him a par on the last hole when, in fact, it should have been a bogey five.

It meant that Clarke had signed for an incorrect score and, rather than simply missing the cut, was disqualified.