Padraig Harrington's great start on day two of The Open quickly turned into a nightmare and he will miss the cut at St Andrews.
After firing an opening round 69 on the Old Course last night, Harrington made a birdie-birdie start this morning.
But it all went wrong for the former Ryder Cup skipper after that, with Harrington dropping eight shots as he ran out of juice and signed for a 78.
"It was one of those days," said the Stacksown man later. "A couple of bad drives early on didn't help for the rest of the day.
"I hit a couple of bad putts. I couldn't figure out....but it didn't matter what I did after that. If I hit a perfect putt, it would miss.
"Twelve and 13, effectively two penalty shots there off reasonable shots. Yeah, it's one of those days.
"You know the time you're making bogeys and another time you get a bit of a break and you make a birdie. -I would say everything that could possibly be compounded was compounded today."
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Admitting he was shattered when his round ended just before 9.30pm, the 50-year-old's spirits were lifted when he expertly judged his approach over the Swilcan Burn on the 1st hole and poured it in from three feet.
Another nice birdie putt on 2 moved the two-time Open winner to to five under par and within three shots of overnight leader Cameron Young's lead, leaving him tied for fourth.
He even went close with a long-range birdie attempt on 3 - but his challenge swiftly faded after that.
On 4, he missed the green to the right with his approach and couldn't hole a 10-foot par putt.
Then on 5, Harrington was left with a difficult birdie putt over a steep slope. He got it to within 10 feet of the pin but came up short with his par try on the par five.
And it got even worse on the par four 6th when four putts to get it in the hole and he walked off the green having double bogeyed.
Harrington once again failed to get close with a tricky birdie attempt and, having failed to make par, he also missed with a close range bogey attempt.
The ship was steadied with a par on 7 but another shot went at the driveable 9 after finding the rough off the tee.
There was more trouble for Harrington on 12 when his tee shot careered into the gorse on the right and he had to take a penalty drop.
Failing to get down from 12 feet ensured another bogey that put him over par for the championship and another dropped shot followed on 13 as his tee shot found a pot bunker in the fairway and he was left with a long putt for par.
The veteran's last bogey for the round came on 15, where another errant drive left him scrambling to make par and he missed a five-footer to do so.
Earlier, 2012 winner Darren Clarke signed for a three over par 75 to add to his first round 79.
Seamus Power and Ronan Mullarney are also in trouble with the cut line expected to be level par or one under par.
However major debutant David Carey is enjoying a day to remember on the famous links and, having made six birdies to get to five under for the championship after 13 holes, is well within the cut line as he closes in on the clubhouse.
Rory McIlroy, who shot a 66 yesterday, and Shane Lowry, who finished level par, are just getting underway for their second rounds.
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