Maybin slips to second as Monty exits

IRELAND’S Gareth Maybin, three clear after his opening course-record 64, slipped to second place with a 70 at the BMW Italian Open in Turin.

Maybin said after his two-birdie, one-bogey round: “That was hard work – too hard.

“Tee to green I was not very good, but usually anybody who finishes well is going to have one of those days and hopefully that’s mine out of the way.”

Colin Montgomerie missed yet another halfway cut as Argentina’s Daniel Vancsik moved into a one-stroke lead

Eight-time European number one Montgomerie bogeyed the final two holes to crash out just as he did in the Spanish Open a week ago.

“I should not be missing cuts in these tournaments,” said the Ryder Cup captain, only a month away now from his 46th birthday.

“I came to gain on the Order of Merit and world rankings and I’m losing ground.”

He is currently a lowly 96th on the Race To Dubai money list and down at 171st in the world.

Three birdies in four holes from the 13th looked to have saved Montgomerie, but he failed to get up and down from a bunker at the 17th and on the last missed the green again and left his chip 25 feet short.

That meant a second successive 72 for a two-over-par total and he joined Darren Clarke in making an early exit. Clarke finished down on seven over after rounds of 74 and 75.

Vancsik, on the other hand, added a 65 to his opening 68 for a nine under aggregate.

Vancsik has not had a top-20 finish on the European Tour for almost a year, but that does not mean he will not win – he went eight months without one before capturing the Madeira Islands Open in 2007.

The 32-year-old is known for his big-hitting, but it was his putter that was his most impressive weapon when he returned to Royal Park four behind Maybin.

In grabbing five birdies in six holes around the turn he holed twice from 20 feet and also converted a 25-foot chance.

While compatriot Angel Cabrera has now won two majors, Vancsik has yet to play in one.

The closest he came was at Walton Heath last June when he lost a play-off for a US Open spot to amateur Gary Wolstenholme.

England’s Anthony Wall, Icelander Birgir Hafthorsson and Finn Roope are in joint third place on seven under.

Wall, trying for only his second win in more than 300 Tour events, shot 67, Hafthorsson a 65 and Kakko, who received a late call-up to the event, a 64.

That was a Tour best for the 27-year-old, but will not join Maybin’s opening round as a course record because placing was allowed on the fairways. That also applies, of course, to South African Andrew McLardy, who improved from three over to four under with the help of a hole-in-one at the 208-yard fourth.

On the same mark is American star John Daly after a second successive 69 – a third in a row as he finished last week’s Spanish Open with one.

With most of the game’s stars competing in Florida at the Players Championship, Spaniard Alvaro Quiros is the only member of the world’s top 60 in Italy.

He made it through on two under, but compatriot Pablo Martin departed after running up an 11 on the long 11th.