Ireland's David Higgins, who led at halfway in the Madrid Open last week before fading to 25th, faces a fifth trip to the European tour's qualifying school after missing the cut at the Italian Open at Is Molas, Sardinia, yesterday.
He missed the cut by just one shot following a bogey on the 17th hole. The Waterville man will now have to battle through six rounds at the school in Spain later this month. He will be joined by former English amateur champion, Graeme Storm, who is making an instant return to the school after missing the cut following a second-round 76.
There was some good news for Higgins's compatriot Ronan Rafferty, however. He managed to make his first cut in 19 attempts after carding a second-round 69 following his opening 68. The former European number one, who joined the tour in 1982 when he was 18, has been dogged by injury since damaging a thumb four years ago and is now fashioning a career as a television pundit.
This year the 37-year-old has spent most weekends either expanding his wine-buying business or giving his golfing opinions on the screen, having missed all 18 cuts before his penultimate event of the year. He will now earn his first official tour winnings of the season. "It's been a while since I've had some weekend work," said a delighted Rafferty, part of Europe's 1989 Ryder Cup team.
At the top of the leaderboard, England's Mark Roe lies just one shot off the lead despite a second round he described as "a comedy of errors". In contrast to Higgins and Storm, he looks as if he will just about retain his card for next season.
Roe managed just one par in his back nine as he added a 69 to his opening 63 for a 12-under-par halfway total, one behind France's Gregory Havret. In total, he carded seven birdies and four bogeys in a bizarre round that also included a drive out of bounds and a visit to a pond, but he remains in good shape to earn enough money to move from 131st on the Order of Merit into the top 115 and retain his card for next season.
Jean Van de Velde was alongside Roe on 12-under-par after a brilliant round of 65. He finished the last five holes at five-under.
