Darren Clarke headed home thinking he’d missed the cut in the Spanish Open. He hadn’t.Darren Clarke hasn’t had much luck since he was denied a wildcard by Nick Faldo for the 2008 Ryder Cup. But the golfing gods smile on him late on Friday when he discovered that instead of missing the cut by a shot, he had scraped into the last two rounds of the Spanish Open in Seville.

According to reports, Clarke had packed his bags and flown home to London after finishing out shot outside the projected one-under par cut after round of 75 and 69. But some mistakes by the late finishers handed an unexpected lifeline to all the players on level par, including the big Dungannon man.

Ranked 139th in the world and 42nd in the Race to Dubai, Clarke was level par for his third round through 14 holes and still 10 shots off the pace.

Shane Lowry and Damien McGrane began the day five shots adrift of leader Johan edfors of Sweden on five under par but Michael Hoey, Gary Murphy, Simon Thornton and Peter Lawrie all missed out as the punishing rough at Real Club de Golf de Sevilla took its tool.