DAVID Howell was wide of the mark in Scotland as he missed the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The 43-year-old, who has been partnered by Hollywood’s Hugh Grant, struggled to make up any lost ground after his disastrous opening day in windy conditions at St Andrews.

With his scorecard reading fiver-over-par after his opening 18 on Thursday, he set off in desperate need of improvement a day later if he was to keep his hopes of making the cut alive.

Starting out on Carnoustie, the two-time Ryder Cup winner made a poor start.

In his front nine Howell, who had complained of a neck injury leading up to the contest, registered three bogeys.

The trio came on the par-four second and ninth, as well as the par-five sixth.

A birdie-three on the fifth was the Swindonian’s only redeeming feature.

His back nine was better, a selection of solid level-par scores was a step in the right direction, boosted by his birdie-four on the 12th.

Back-to-back level-pars ceased at the 17th, where he recorded his fourth, followed by his fifth bogey of the day on the 18th

Despite the steady nature of his back nine, it wasn’t enough to pull him into contention as he finished the day three over-par, and eight-over for the tournament.