A LEVEL par second round of 72 safely saw David Howell make the cut at the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco today.

The Swindon star had opened up the tournament with a one-over 73 on Thursday and although he has not able to improve on his overall total, Howell was safely able to quality for the weekend’s action well inside the top 50.

It continues an encouraging upturn in form for the 42-year-old, who made his fourth cut in five European Tour events after a frustrating spell due to injuries in recent years.

Howell heads into the tomorrow’s third round at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam eight shots off the lead held by Spaniard Alvaro Quiros after a two-under second round of 70 took him to seven-under overall.

Teeing off at the 10th hole, Howell enjoyed a good start to his second round as after back-to-back pars, he made a first birdie of the day on the 12th – his third – to get back level par for the tournament.

Par remained the order of the day for the Broome Manor man as a further six in succession meant he reached the turn at one-under for the day.

After a par-par start to his second nine, Howell dropped his first and only shot of the day at the third – his 12th – with a bogey.

However, Howell did not let that derail him and a run of five further pars in a row saw him finish level par for the day and remain one-over overall.