Steady Clarke stays in contention

Darren Clarke played steadily in Friday's tricky conditions

Darren Clarke shot a 73 in tricky conditions to maintain his challenge at the South African Airways Open but Rory Mcllroy will miss the cut.

Clarke's 15 pars, a birdie and two bogeys left him one over - three behind leader James Kingston who fired an impressive 69 on Friday.

Rory McIlroy improved by nine shots from his opening 83 to hit a 74.

However, McIlroy's 13-over-par total was four shots too many to progress to the weekend.

Ireland's Peter Lawrie hit a 75 for five over but Colm Moriarty missed the cut after hitting a 74 for 11 over par.

Clarke's round left him tied for sixth in a group which contained twice Open Champion Greg Norman who shot a superb 70 at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates course.

Norman plays little competitive golf these days but he showed plenty of his old flair on Friday.