Els makes the cut, but Daly cards 29 over par

ERNIE Els maintained a proud record of never having missed a cut at the Open as a professional yesterday when he undid the damage of an opening round of 80 thanks to a feisty 69. The South Africa's total of 149, nine over par, made it through to the weekend by the slimmest of margins.

Els said he was delighted to sneak through, a sentiment shared by Ryder Cup players Paul Casey and Lee Westwood, who were among the other relieved golfers in a tie for 69th.

Of the high-profile men who won't be around this weekend, past Birkdale winners Mark O'Meara and Tom Watson took too many blows. Mark Calcavecchia, whose wife Brenda was on the bag after missing Thursday's round, threw his glove away in disgust after recording 11 over par.

Pre-tournament tip Geoff Ogilvy, 74 for 151, and US Ryder Cup player Stewart Cink fell by the wayside while Vijay Singh, Angel Cabrera and John Daly were the other major winners who missed out. Daly, 89 for 169, a whacking 29 over par, occupied second-last place but at least had the good grace as a past Open champion to complete all 36 holes. Daly is often criticised for dereliction of duty but compared to Sandy Lyle, who walked off after ten holes on Thursday, the winner at St Andrews in 1995, for once, deserves a pat on the back for doing his job.

Meanwhile, if Sergio Garcia fails to lift the Claret Jug by a single shot tomorrow he will have only himself to blame. It will be no use complaining the fates are against him as he did last year when he missed out on the title to Padraig Harrington after a play-off despite leading by four shots in the final round.

It will be no good insisting again that he is one of golf's unluckiest players. Not after the way he missed an 18-inch tiddler on the final green at Royal Birkdale for a second-round 73 which left him on five over par at half-way. And that after rolling a 30-foot approach putt serenely up to the hole.

Garcia tried to be philosophical about it. "I didn't rush it," he said. "I was more worried about other things than the putt itself. I was thinking about not treading on anyone else's line, whether or not I should mark it. Then you look up and realise you've missed it. That's what happens sometimes. But it's ok, I'm still alive."