England’s Brian Davis leads the European challenge at the Shell Houston Open, where Rory McIlroy narrowly survived the halfway cut.
American Steve Wheatcroft leads the way on ten under par, but McIlroy is nine adrift after scraping through to the weekend action with a second round 70.
Davis recorded the same score as McIlroy, but after an opening 67 is well placed in fourth on seven under par.
Argentina’s Angel Cabrera is in a share of sixth on six under, while Sweden’s Henrik Stenson is also in the top ten.
McIlroy had been facing up to an early finish when he teed off at the 15th hole, but two timely birdies saw him make the cut.
He said: "As I said, no one likes missing cuts and especially when it's my last one before the Masters.
"It's nice to have another couple of rounds, do some work on the range this afternoon and hopefully improve on the course that I've already done."
In fact, it will not be his last cut before the Masters - he subsequently, and with 30 minutes to spare before the deadline, entered next week's Valero Texas Open in San Antonio.
