Clarke shares lead in Dutch event

Darren Clarke fired six birdies in Thursday's round

Defending champion Darren Clarke shares the lead on eight under par at the halfway stage of the KLM Open after firing a second-round 67 at Kennemer.

The Northern Irishman came home in 31 to move alongside Peter Hedblom (66).

Peter Lawrie is in a large group on seven under while Paul McGinley (70) and Shane Lowry (66) are on six under.

Gareth Maybin is five under after a 68 but Jonathan Caldwell just failed to make the cut after ending level while Michael Hoey finished on eight over.

Caldwell's even-par total after a 69 left him one shot outside the cut mark.

Hoey hit a second-round 69 but the damage had been done by Friday's opening 79.

Lawrie moved to 10 under after 15 but dropped three shots in his last three holes including a closing double bogey.

Clarke mixed three birdies with as many bogeys over his opening nine but he steadied up after the turn to pick up shots at the 10th, 12th and 15th.

McGinley, first round leader alongside Scotland's Gary Orr after a 64, improved to eight under after 14 but two late bogeys saw him signing for a level-par 70.

Irish Open champion Lowry is on course for his best finish to a tournament since he turned professional after adding a 68 to his first-round 66.

Gary Murphy missed the cut after adding a 70 to his opening 76.

Clarke is without a top-10 since his victory in the Netherlands last year.

With no members of the world's top 50 at Kennemer, Clarke has a good chance to make an impact this week.

The Northern Irishman has gone back to working with golf psychologist Jos Vanstiphout in attempt to pinpoint where things have been going wrong.