DAVID Howell missed his first cut of the 2016 European Tour season in Qatar this morning.

The Swindon 40 year old, playing his fourth tournament of the schedule, bowed out in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in Doha after a second successive round of 73.

After a largely uneventful opening round yesterday, featuring one birdies and a couple of bogeys, the two-time Ryder Cup star opened up in more erratic style today, dropping shots at the first and third holes, but in between birdieing the second.

Howell was steady until the turn, which he reached in one over par 37 but his prospects of surviving to the weekend nose-dived as he posted back to back bogeys at the 12th and 13th.

He repaired that damage with birdies at the 15th and 16th, but with the cut falling at one under par, he was three shots short.

Paul Lawrie as he rolled back the years to put himself in pole position for a third Qatar victory.

Lawrie's first win in Qatar came in 1999, the same year as his Open triumph at Carnoustie, with the second in 2012 helping him secure a Ryder Cup return at Medinah after an absence of 13 years.

The 47-year-old also won the Johnnie Walker Championship in 2012 and although he has not tasted victory on the European Tour since, a second round of 66 at Doha Golf Club gave him the clubhouse lead on 11 under par, two shots ahead of France's Gregory Bourdy and England's Andrew Johnston.