• China Open, Round Two

Casey calamity causes him to miss cut

ESPN staff
April 20, 2012
Paul Casey's tournament died at the 12th © Getty Images
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A ten at the par-five 12th ensured Paul Casey missed the cut at the China Open, as Ian Poulter scraped in for the weekend only after a strong finish.

After starting with an encouraging round of 68 on Thursday, Casey's second round total of 79 (seven-over) saw him slip well outside the two-under cut mark after a nightmare day at Binhai Lake Golf Club.

Another player who will have the weekend off is 13-year-old amateur Guan Tie-lang - whose record breaking appearance was ended after a matching 79 ensured he beat only five of the other 155 men in the field who completed the first 36 holes.

The lead is held by Englishman Gary Boyd and Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, who are both 11-under after matching rounds of 67 on day two. Neither player has won a European Tour event.

"I had to stay patient and was one over playing my ninth hole but managed to get on in two and two putt for birdie and really get my round going," Boyd said. "The back nine I managed to take a few more chances and finished it off with a three wood to eight feet on the ninth - it was the shot of the year so far for me."

Branden Grace, who has already won once in 2012, is next on the leaderboard at 10-under, with defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts looking in good nick at nine-under.

Other than Boyd, English hopes are led by Danny Willett and Oliver Wilson at seven-under (level with Francisco Molinari and Joost Luiten) - with Colin Montgomerie losing ground slightly after a second round of 72 left him four-under for the tournament.

The drama, however, was with two higher profile names who found themselves surprisingly struggle to play their way into the weekend. Ian Poulter looked destined to miss out before he finished with two birdies to finish on the cut line but the news was not so good for Casey, who saw his hopes evaporate after a disaster at the 12th.

The Englishman found trouble off the tee and could not recover, racking up a quintuple bogey that left his weekend plans open. He was joined by Guan, who failed in his bid to become the youngest player to make a European Tour cut after again struggling with the length of the course on a day that also troubled much more established players.

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