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By Rob Hodgetts and Matt Slater
BBC Sport at Royal Troon
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Darren Clarke fired a fine closing 68 to finish his Open campaign on two under par at Royal Troon.
The Northern Irishman prospered in the breezy conditions after a slow start from one over.
The 35-year-old quickly slumped to two over at the second before birdies at four, five and six put him back on track despite a further bogey on nine.
He dropped a further shot at the 13th but another three-hole birdie blitz from the 15th gave him a strong finish.
Clarke said: "It's not quite a lost chance because I wasn't up there. From tee to green I was hitting it as well as I wanted to.
"But I had a cold putter and I wasn't chipping it close enough.
"When I made mistakes I wasn't able to recover. But it's always good to finish a tournament with a good round."
Paul McGinley completed a week that promised much on Thursday evening with a 73 for a nine-over aggregate.
The Ryder Cup hero opened his Open campaign with a two-under 69, but rounds of 76 and 75 saw him slide down the leaderboard.
The 37-year-old Irishman played better on Sunday in testing conditions, but will be disappointed with his finish.
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