McIlroy and Harrington await TPC cut

Irish golfers Rory McIlroy and Padraig Harrington are set to miss the cut in The Players Championship, golf's richest event, at Sawgrass today.

Both players are on one-over-par, well above the projected tournament cut of two-under-par.

Lee Westwood has taken another step towards his first victory in America for over 12 years. Westwood added a sparkling seven under par 65 to his opening 67 and held the early clubhouse lead.

Tiger Woods again produced a mixed bag - he did, though, make it through to the weekend.

On 12-under-par, the European number one - third, third and second in the last three Majors - was only two short of the tournament's 36-hole record set by Greg Norman in 1994.

He was, however, just one stroke in front of Japan's Ryujni Imada (66) and also Francesco Molinari, whose decision to play in Florida rather than at his home Italian Open was paying handsome dividends.

Molinari matched Westwood's round as he continued his bid to go one better than his brother Edoardo's runners-up finish at the Arnold Palmer Invitational two months ago.

Rose, on the other hand, went in the water for a closing bogey that was likely to cost him his place on level par, Harrington got a ball stuck up a tree four holes from home and McIlroy failed to find the inspiration of last week's maiden US Tour triumph.

As for Woods, who blew out by eight shots with a horrid 79 the previous Friday, he had five birdies, but also two bogeys and a double bogey.

That translated into a one-under 71 and a three-under halfway aggregate. With half the field still on the course he was in a tie for 39th.

Mickelson remained 10 back with six successive pars at the start of his round and nobody on the course was inside four shots of Westwood's mark.

Donald birdied the 11th, his second, to improve to six-under, but three bogeys in five holes left Paul Casey four-over and heading out.