Golf: Dredge on fire but big guns falter

Welshman Bradley Dredge hit two eagles to lead the BMW International Open at the halfway stage, with star attractions Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia out of the event.

Dredge, still clinging to the hope that he might make the Ryder Cup on home soil in October, grabbed his eagles in a second-round 67, leaving him 13 under - one ahead of Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.

But fatigue appeared to catch up with Els when he dropped three late shots and narrowly failed to grab the eagle he needed on the par-five last. Garcia was also at the US Open at Pebble Beach last week, but there was more behind his woeful performance than jetlag. Wearing the colours of the Spanish football team did nothing for the 30-year-old as his slump continued.

For the first time as a professional, Garcia has missed back-to-back cuts on European soil and his nine-over 36-hole total after rounds of 77 and 76 was his worst on this side of the Atlantic since the 1999 Open at Carnoustie.

"That's the way it is - I can't do anything about it," said the former world No 2, who has dropped to 36th in the rankings.

New Zealand's Michael Campbell missed the cut after shooting a 74 and 75. Mark Brown did likewise, carding a par 72. Danny Lee, the third Kiwi in the field, was in a tie for 47th after hitting two 70s.

Meanwhile, in Connecticutt, England's Justin Rose shot an eight-under 62 in the second round of the Travelers Championship, four strokes ahead of Kevin Sutherland.

- INDEPENDENT, AGENCIES