Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy hope to play at Royal Birkdale
Darren Clarke's hopes of getting into the Open at Royal Birkdale look bleak after a four-over-par 74 in the opening round of Monday's 36-hole qualifier.
"That is my worst-ever score here and it would appear I will be going fishing in three weeks' time," said Clarke.
The Ryder Cup hero's only remaining chances of making it are to finish in the top five either in the European Open or the Scottish Open.
Rory McIlroy is still in with a shout after having a one-under first round.
Paul McGinley was struggling at three over midway through his first round, while earlier Jose Maria Olazabal managed a one-over-par 71.
England's Simon Wakefield and Scot Alastair Forsyth led the way with five-under-par 65s.

R&A chief Peter Dawson says Royal Birkdale is a challenge
Sixteen of Royal Birkdale's 18 holes have been altered for the 2008 Open, say organisers the Royal & Ancient.
Most of the modifications are focused on tightening the course which will be playing at 7,173 yards in July.
That is only 155 yards longer than when the links at Southport, near Liverpool, last hosted the Championship in 1998, when American Mark O'Meara triumphed.
The course is short compared to some, but R&A chief executive Peter Dawson said: "Believe me, it is long enough."
Since O'Meara's victory, 20 bunkers - 16 fairway and four greenside - have been added.
Significant mounding has also been carried out to seven greens which will demand more varied and imaginative recovery shots.

The ninth fairway has been moved 25 yards to the left while the par-five 17th has a new green 25 yards further back and raised above the fairway.
The aim of the latter is to create a more challenging approach shot, particularly for those attempting to reach the putting surface in two.
Dawson said: "I don't think that this is a golf course you could accuse of being short, or one that intends to take the driver out of the player's hands. Far from it."
The Open, with extensive live coverage on BBC television, radio and online, starts on 17 July.

Beem finished his round strongly to move into contentionSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:(US unless stated)-9 A Baddeley (Aus), R Beem, M Weir (Can)-8 P Mickelson, S O'Hair, B Wetterich, R MooreSelected others:-6 T Woods-4 S Garcia (Spa), L Donald (Eng)-3 B Davis (Eng)+3 I Poulter (Eng)+5 J Rose (Eng)
Mike Weir, Aaron Baddeley and Rich Beem moved into a share of the lead at the halfway mark of the Deutsche Bank Championship in Massachusetts.
Weir went two strokes clear before bogeying his last two holes for a 68 while Beem birdied his last four holes to move into contention.
Both Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods moved up the leaderboard with seven-under pars 64s.
Mickelson is one off the lead with Woods two shots further back.
Mickelson twice chipped in, for birdie on 15 and then for eagle at the par-five 18th, while defending champion Woods covered his last eight holes in six under.
Overnight leader Camilo Villegas of Colombia shot a 72 to be among a group of five players on seven under.
"It was a lot of fun," said Mickelson. "This is what we were kind of hoping for in the first round but you can't get it going all the time.
"It was actually a little more challenging today with the cooler air and the breeze but the greens were so perfect you felt you could make lots of putts.
"We just didn't get it going yesterday but I just sensed that everybody was going to come out ready.
We all needed a good round to get back into the tournament, and that's what we ended up doing."
Woods added: "It was nice to get the putter rolling and I caught fire on the back nine. The whole idea was for me to get something around three or four under par today. Now I'm back in the tournament."

Montgomerie finished a miserable second round at lunchtimeSECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD:GB & Ire unless stated-10 G Havret (Fra), JM Lara (Spa) -9 P Mickelson (USA) -8 S Khan, A Romero (Arg), B Weekley (USA) Selected others: -7 E Els (SA) -6 M Foster, S Garcia (Spa), I Poulter
Colin Montgomerie will go to the Open Championship on the back of a missed cut for the first time after crashing out of the Scottish Open.
Five days after victory at the European Open ended 19 months without a victory, Montgomerie hit a second-round 74 to finish on 143 along with Retief Goosen.
Gregory Havret of France and Spain's Jose Manuel Lara held the lead
Phil Mickelson was one stroke off the lead after a 68, with Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia hovering in the shadows.
Havret, one of the early starters, blitzed his way to a seven-under 64 for a 10-under total of 132 in perfect conditions.
Lara shrugged aside the heavy rain later in the day to shoot 65.
Els (66) was among four players on seven-under 135, with Garcia (65) among another group on 136.
Montgomerie finished at lunchtime, but it was 1900 BST before his exit from the event was confirmed.
He had resumed on two under par, only four off the lead, and was three under after seven holes before bogeys on the short 17th, first, third and fifth.
"I hit 27 out of 28 fairways but I just didn't putt well at all," he said.