A LATE surge rescued David Howell’s hopes of making the cut at the BMW International today following a disastrous start to day two in Germany.

The 42-year-old’s opening round had him in a fantastic position, as he sat tied sixth on the leaderboard after a two-under par round of 70 on Thursday.

However, the two-time Ryder Cup winner dropped down the board on Friday following a three-over score of 75.

On his front nine, the former Broome Manor member struggled for consistency at Golf Club Gut Larchenhof as he registered a birdie on the third between bogeys at the second and fifth.

Howell’s downturn continued up to the halfway mark where he recorded a bogey on the seventh as well as another on the ninth.

Things continued to go against Howell on his back nine as two more bogeys at the 10th and 12th holes saw him drift even further down the leaderboard.

However, a birdie on the 13th followed by an eagle three on the par-five 15th, which was his second in as many days, went some way to repairing the damage.

On the penultimate hole, another bogey bumped Howell’s score up to three-over for the day, leaving him one-over for the tournament after he rounded off his round with par on the 18th.

Despite a shaky day of scoring, the Swindon man says he is feeling confident ahead of the weekend as he looks to mount a challenge for a top-10 finish in Germany.

“It’s a really tough course this week and the conditions have been rough. T assess it, I am reasonably happy,” said Howell.

“I didn’t play that badly. There were a couple of three-putts, which were frustrating. They came after some nice shots in, so that gave two shots away.

“It’s the type of course were you need to do the exact opposite and not give anything silly away.

“I think the most positive thing is how patient I stayed when things were going array. I was five-over at one point and I kept my belief.

“Going in, I’d expected to play some nice golf and I got my rewards with a birdie and an eagle, although I did hit a silly bogey on the 17th.

“However, I am now safely through to the weekend and I am in reasonably shape for it too.

“Hopefully if I can have a reasonable day on Saturday, I will be looking at a potential top 10.

“That is the plan."