Out-of-sorts Rory makes British Masters cut

Rory McIlroy’s indifferent season continued as he trailed leader TyrellHatton by eight shots at the halfway stage of the British Masters atClose House in Newcastle yesterday.McIlroy managed three birdies but also dropped shots on two of his firstfive holes, in a no-frills one-under par 69 for a four-under par totalin the north-east of England.England’s Hatton toughed-out the wet and miserable morning conditions toemerge with a three-shot lead, adding a five-under par 65 to hisopening 63 to move three clear of the field.McIlroy’s presence for the last two rounds will have come as a hugerelief to Ryder Cup teammate and tournament host Lee Westwood, asanother of the big draws, Masters champion Sergio Garcia, missed the cutby a stroke.Four-time major winner McIlroy managed to fight back from bogeys at hissecond and fifth holes to birdie his sixth, 11th and 17th holes andfinish two shots inside the two-under par cut-off mark.“It was okay. It was a little bit of a struggle but as least we got thebetter of the conditions,” said McIlroy, who was followed by a hugecrowd including former England football captain Alan Shearer.“We didn’t have to contend with the rain like the guys did in themorning, but the wind got up in the morning, which made it a bittrickier.“So, there was chances out there but I just didn’t get off to a greatstart. I played okay on the way in, but I obviously need to go a bitlower on the weekend to have a chance.”‘Few more putts to drop’McIlroy, in what is his penultimate event of the year, was especiallywasteful with his putting. “I just need a few more putts to drop as Ifeel like I’m hitting decent putts,” he said.“I’m not reading them right, at all. I hit a couple of weak ones outthere, as well. Keep giving myself chances, and hopefully a few puttsdrop.”World number 29 Hatton arrived at the course struggling with his game,having missed the cut in four of his past six events and only managingto turn it around with a share of third in his last event inSwitzerland.“I was very happy with that round as it was pretty tough out there thismorning with the rain coming down,” said Hatton. “I am a lot morecomfortable with my game as I got a lot of confidence from my result inSwitzerland after a poor summer.“I have hit a lot of good iron shots and the putter feels good as it has been very cold for some time.”Five players — the English quartet of Westwood (65), Ian Poulter (65),Chris Hanson (67) and Ashley Chesters (66), along with Swedish veteranRobert Karlsson (65) — share second place at nine-under par.Leading second round scores128 — Tyrrell Hatton 63-65131 — Lee Westwood 66-65, Ashley Chesters 65-66, Ian Poulter 66-65, Robert Karlsson (SWE) 65-66, Chris Hanson 64-67132 — Graeme Storm 65-67, Lee Slattery 65-67, Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 64-68134 — Graeme McDowell 66-68, Gregory Havret (FRA) 67-67, Florian Fritsch(GER) 66-68, Shane Lowry 68-66, Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 67-67, RichieRamsay 67-67, Richard Sterne (RSA) 69-65, Paul Dunne 66-68, Joel Stalter(FRA) 65-69