ALMOST flaunting his elevated status as the world's number four, Colin Montgomerie outscored playing partner Fred Couples yesterday and promptly declared his determination to capture the £650,000 Desert Classic at the Emirates Club. And he would have found few dissenters, even if a halfway total of 135 - nine under par - left him four strokes adrift of the clear leader, Miguel-Angel Jimenez, on 131.

When the cut was made on two under par, five of the nine Irish challengers survived - Raymond Burns (68 for 138), David Feherty (69 for 139), Eamonn Darcy (72 for 140) and Des Smyth (70) and Paul McGinley (72), both on 141. The casualties were Christy O'Connor Jnr (76) and Ronan Rafferty (71), who both ended on 145, and Philip Walton (72) and Darren Clarke (73) a stroke further back.

A fresh breeze and rising temperatures injected fire into splendid greens, leaving little chance of a repeat of the leader's 63 of Thursday. But there were those who found no need of the putter on some holes, like the South African Roger Wessels, whose hole-in-one at the 188-yard fourth earned him £20,000. Later in the day, Sweden's Peter Hedblom aced the 180-yard 15th, for which there was no prize. Indeed he encountered only misery three holes later, when a closing bogey six caused him to miss the cut.

In this event 14 months ago, Burns made a sparkling debut on the European Tour, breaking par in all four rounds for a share of eighth place behind Couples. Memories of that impressive play lifted him to a fine second round of 68 in which he matched his effort of Thursday by extracting a further three strokes from the par lives.

Having started on the 10th, his only bogey came at the tricky 351-yard 17th where a wedge approach finished just off the back edge, leading to three putts. But the round also included some fine saves, like at the long 18th where, after hitting a three-iron second shot into water, he got up and down with a six-foot putt to save par. And at the ninth, his finishing hole, a 10-foot par putt compensated admirably for a wayward drive.

"It's last August since I started as well as this," said the 22-year-old. "Yet I probably struck the ball better in Morocco last week and still missed the cut." On this occasion, however, a tidy short game delivered a rich dividend.

Indeed Couples could have used the Burns touch as he struggled to a round of 69 which, given his power was probably no better than level par. Prodigious striking by the American actually stunned Montgomerie on a few occasions, notably at the 530-yard third, where the breeze was helping.

There, Montgomerie gave his driver the full treatment and was still 49 yards behind the American's tee shot. Which meant that Couples was hitting a six-iron second shot to a three-wood from the Scot. "There aren't many who hit it past me, certainly not that far," Montgomerie admitted afterwards.

But a decidedly sloppy finish by the American was typical of his round. Having driven to within 20 yards of the green at the 351-yard 17th, a poor pitch finished hopelessly short of the target. And with only 221 yards to carry the water at the long 18th, he mis-hit a three-wood into the hazard. "It was such a comfortable carry that I thought of hitting a two-iron, but I took the three-wood for safety," he said. Couples added: "We can all hit bad shots but you don't like to do it going over water."

Jimenez, the overnight leader, threw a scare into the opposition with a brilliant start of birdie, birdie, birdie - the product of two putts of five feet and a three-iron onto the green for a two-putt four at the long third. And when a five-footer found the target at the sixth, he was 13 under par for the tournament.

From there on, however, he produced a decidedly mixed bag, balancing three bogeys with three further birdies, including a wedge to 12 feet for a closing four at the 18th. "The problem was that I missed more greens today," he said afterwards.

Montgomerie also carded a run of three birdies, at the third, fourth and fifth where none of the putts was longer than four feet. The remainder of the round was solidly crafted, without further spectacle. "I didn't expect to get into contention so early " he said of his first appearance after a three-month break. "But I'm enjoying it and am really looking forward to the weekend."

Feherty looked set for an early departure when a double-bogey at the fifth, where he blocked his second into water, left him level par for the tournament at that stage. But he went on to cover the remaining 13 holes in five under par, including a run of three birdies from the sixth.

Like Montgomerie, his approach play was impeccable, resulting in birdie puffs of no more than four feet at each of those holes. He got up and down (six-foot putt) from a greenside trap for another birdie at the long 13th and heat pa again at the short, 180-yard 15th, which he reduced to a six-iron and eight foot putt.

"I feel as if I'm now striking the ball better than ever, he said afterwards. He also seemed to benefit from the services of Malcolm Mason, the regular caddie of his good friend Sam Torrance who was forced to withdraw from the event because of a foot injury.

The Ulster man has set himself the long term objective of returning to Ryder Cup action at Valderrama in 1997, which will mean getting into as many counting tournaments as possible towards the end of this season. It's an aspiration that received a solid endorsement yesterday from his playing partner, Seve Ballesteros, who happens to be captain of the European team.

Ballesteros, who birdied the 7th and 18th to make the cut a stroke below the limit, said afterwards: "I hope he comes back with a fresh mind. He has a good short game; he's always happy which makes him a good team man and he has the experience of playing at Kiawah Island." Did he talk to Feherty much during the round? "You know David, the Spaniard replied with a smile. "With him, I was just listening."

Interestingly, Ballesteros seemed to be preoccupied yesterday with Irish players. Within minutes of his pronouncement about Feherty, he spent half an hour giving a chipping lesson to Clarke, whose game was so badly out of sorts that he decided to withdraw from next week's Portuguese Open.

Smyth, who started on the 10th, staged a courageous battle for survival when he stood at level par for the tournament with seven holes to play. Brilliant iron play brought birdies at the third, fourth and seventh, his 12th, 13th and 16th holes, for a fine round of 70 which saw him through the cut with a shot to spare. "I'm just happy to be still here," he said afterwards.

Bogeys at the eighth (missed green) and ninth (three putts) dented McGinley's confidence en route to a mundane 72. Darcy was disappointed with the same score which he blamed on poor pitching, normally one of his strengths. But there was still evidence of a delightful touch with the sand wedge when his third to the 18th finished four feet right of the pin for a closing birdie.