Miguel Angel Jimenez with Caddie, Michael Hough
Darren Clarke fired a seven under par second round 65 at the Volvo Golf Champions to finish on 10 under - in a four way share of 5th place - at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain and one shot off the four joint leaders - in a cluttered leader board.
Eight players are separated by a single shot at the halfway stage of the Volvo Golf Champions in Bahrain - and one of them got there with his putter in two pieces – after a moment of frustration following a succession of misses..
The loss of the putter might have cost Jiménez dear, but in a remarkable closing stretch he had a hat-trick of birdies using his lob-wedge instead – finishing in a seven under par 65/
The Spaniard goes into the weekend on the 11 under mark and sharing top spot with Ryder Cup team-mates Peter Hanson and Edoardo Molinari and also Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin.
Former Ryder Cup pair Darren Clarke and Paul Casey, South African James Kingston and Scot Stephen Gallacher are right on their heels, Gallacher following a course record-equalling 64.
Clarke took great delight in telling how playing partner Jiménez "just caught the edge of his bag" with the putter, adding that his backswing was "a bit long".
The Malaga golfer was in the mood to laugh about it as well, though, after picking up shots at the 15th, 16th and 17th.
"I think now I putt with my lob-wedge," he joked.
In contrast Molinari's start made his day after he birdied the first six holes and closed with another for a 65 as he looked for a win that could take him back above his brother Francesco on the Official World Golf Ranking.
