SECOND-ROUND LEADERBOARD (US unless stated) -8 J Furyk -7 S Ames (Can), A Scott (Aus) -6 KJ Choi (Kor), V Singh (Fij), S Garcia (Spa) Selected others: -5 G Owen (Eng), JM Olazabal (Spa) -4 I Poulter (Eng), R Goosen (SA) -3 T Woods -2 E Els (SA), D Howell (Eng) -1 D Clarke (NIre), L Westwood (Eng), B Davis (Eng), P Mickelson +2 P Harrington (Ire) +3 L Donald (Eng) +4 C Montgomerie (Sco)

Furyk edged to eight under as Canada's Stephen Ames (66) and Australian Adam Scott (67) climbed to seven under.

Co-overnight leader Davis Love crashed out with an abysmal 83, while Tiger Woods (69) edged to three under.

Spain's Sergio Garcia (68) led the Europeans on six under but Luke Donald (74), Colin Montgomerie (76) and Padraig Harrington (73) missed the cut.

Ireland's Paul McGinley (+6) and England's Justin Rose (+6) and Nick Faldo (+11) also gave themselves a weekend off.

But England's Greg Owen was very much in contention after a 68 took him to five under despite opening with a double bogey.

"I don't think you can report what I said to myself coming off the first green," said Owen, who threw away the Bay Hill Invitational with a double-bogey, bogey finish last week.

"It still pops back, but I'm proud of myself to play well this week because it was tough last week.

"I don't think I'll ever forget it. It was a great chance to win a tournament on the PGA Tour and you've got to learn from it."

Love entered the US PGA Tour record books as the only player in the history of the Players Championship to go from first to missing the cut.

The 41-year-old, trying to become the first three-time winner on the TPC at Sawgrass, opened with a 65 on Thursday and had four straight pars to start his second round.

But starting with a double bogey on 14, he dropped 11 shots over the final 14 holes.

Love dropped 11 shots in the final 14 holes in his 83

He fell apart with a tee shot that landed behind a tree on the par-five 9th, took three shots from 114 yards to reach the green, and then three putts from 15 feet.

He took a quadruple-bogey nine on his final hole to miss the cut by four shots.

"It was one of those days," Love said. "When I hit a bad shot, I never got away with it.

"It seemed like if I hit the fairway, I hit a good shot and missed a putt. And if I missed the fairway, I made bogey or a double."

Furyk, Love's playing partner for the first two rounds, said: "You can't say all that much. We've all been in that position, and I know personally I'd just kind of want to be left alone.

"Davis had a rough day, and didn't shoot anywhere near the score he could have. He's not that far off."

Eight-time European number one Montgomerie missed his fourth straight halfway cut for the first time in a professional career going back to 1987.

The Scot, who made early exits in Dubai, Perth and Orlando, was level par overnight but three-putted the short third and then went over the green for another bogey on the next.

He dropped further strokes on the 12th, 13th and 17th and a birdie at the last was scant consolation.

But Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Ian Poulter were all safely through to the last two rounds at one under, while Englishman David Howell was two under.