THREE back-nine bogeys scuppered David Howell’s hopes of making the cut in the latest European Tour event today as he dropped down the leaderboard at the Sicilian Open after posting a three-over second round of 74.

After reaching the turn at one-over for the tournament, Howell went off the rails at Verdura Golf Club to finish on four-over overall and miss the cut by a single shot.

Swindon golfer Howell had enjoyed a solid if unspectacular first round on the Italian island on Thursday after opening up the tournament with a one-over round of 72.

The Broome Manor man needed just two holes of his second round to return to level par overall as he collected an early birdie.

However, that good work was quickly undone by back-to-back bogeys as Howell’s game began to falter.

The 42-year-old was able to stop the rot with a second birdie of the day on the seventh hole, and two further pars saw him reach the turn at level par for the day and remain at one-over for the tournament.

However, a charge up the leaderboard failed to materialise as Howell instead went in the opposite direction.

A bogey at the 10th hole had him back-pedalling before another followed at the 14th.

And any hopes Howell had of staying around for the weekend action went when he posted another bogey at the final hole, making it five for the day in total, as he recorded a three-over round to drop to four-over overall.

That left Howell in a tie for 77th place and narrowly short of the cutline at three-over.

Frenchman Julien Guerrier and Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard lead the way at nine-under, the former having shot a six-under second round of 65.

There will be some Wiltshire representation over the weekend as Ben Stow is currently in a tie for 22nd place, eight shots off the lead on one-under after a one-under second round of 70.

And Laurie Canter, who plays out of Cumberwell Park in Bradford on Avon, is on one-over overall after a two-over second round.