DAVID Howell added a second successive round under par and was within striking distance of the leaders after day two of the £3million Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond yesterday.

Howell, who opened his bid with a two-under-par 69 on Thursday, added a 70 in Scotland after going out among the early starters.

Starting from the 10th, the Broome Manor man birdied the 13th and 14th to creep up towards the top of the leaderboard, but was back where he started after dropped shots at 17 and 18.

His see-saw fortunes continued as a birdie at the third was overshadowed by bogeys at the fourth and fifth before two more birdies, at the sixth and eighth, saw him finish at three under par overall.

That left him tied 42nd, well inside the cut mark which fell at one under.

Meanwhile, playing partner Thomas Bjorn conquered the dreaded "yips" to move into contention for the title- and keep his hopes of qualifying for the Open Championship alive.

The Dane switched to a long putter as rounds of 67 and 68 helped him to a seven-under-par total of 135, two shots behind leader Angel Cabrera.

Cabrera added a 68 to his opening 65 to finish nine under par, one ahead of Ireland's Damien McGrane.

While Colin Montgomerie missed the cut for the second year in succession after a 75, star attraction Phil Mickelson made it to the weekend in spectacular fashion.

After 13 holes of his second round, Mickelson, the world number two and runner-up last year, was level par and outside the predicted cut mark.

But the American then fired a hole-in-one on the fifth, his 14th hole, and also picked up two more birdies to card a 67 and finish four under par.