A SUPERB front-nine birdie blitz was not enough to rescue David Howell's hopes of making the cut at the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi this morning.

Howell, whose opening round was curtailed by bad light with two holes remaining, carded a one-under-par round of 71 for his second 18 holes - but the damage to his bid to make the final two rounds for a third successive weekend had already been done.

The two-time Ryder Cup winner had shipped five shots in three holes before being forced off course on Thursday and his fortunes did not improve upon his return to tidy up his round one commitments today.

The 42 year old parred the 17th hole but disaster struck at the long 18th, where he ran up a double-bogey seven to card an eight-over-par 80.

Beginning his second round on the 10th, the Swindon player dropped another shot immediately, but then raised hopes of finishing inside the cut mark with an excellent run of scoring to the turn.

Birdies at 11, 12, 14, 16 and 18 took him back to four over par overall and towards the top 60.

However, for the second day in succession, Howell dropped a shot at the third and a triple-bogey seven at the sixth put paid to his hopes, despite a further birdie at the eighth - his 17th on the way home.