The 138th Open, Turnberry
Date: 16-19 July
Coverage: Live TV coverage on BBC Two, Online and the Red Button, live on Radio 5 Live and text commentary online on all four days

Poulter hit only one birdie, on the 17th in his second round

Ian Poulter suffered another horror day in the 138th Open as several British players missed the cut in difficult conditions at Turnberry.

Poulter followed up an opening-round 75 with a poor 79 to leave him 14 over, 10 shots shy of the cut.

Feuding Scottish duo Colin Montgomerie and Sandy Lyle were five and eight over respectively and also miss the weekend.

Three-time champion Sir Nick Faldo and Scottish brothers Lloyd and Elliot Saltman were other casualties.

Poulter, 33, who finished runner-up to Padraig Harrington in last year's Open at Royal Birkdale, never got to grip with the course or conditions as he sought to make up for his five-over opening round.

A triple-bogey on the 5th and doubles on the 2nd and 15th were compounded by bogeys on the 9th, 11th and 12th and it was not until the par-five 17th that he registered his first birdie of the tournament.

"Seriously, there were no decent golf shots out there," said Poulter.

It could have been the easiest municipal down the road and I would have missed the cut. It was horrible. Ian Poulter

"If you're going to play as bad as I played for two days, it doesn't matter what golf course you're playing.

"It could have been the easiest municipal down the road and I would have missed the cut. It was horrible."

After the superb playing conditions for yesterday's opening round, players faced an altogether tougher proposition on a wet, windy second day in Scotland.

In general scores were high, with only a handful of players breaking par.

Much attention has been paid this week to Montgomerie and Lyle as their row over the latter's accusations of cheating aimed at the former for an incident at the 2005 Indonesian Open rumbles on.

Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie felt the row had resulted in his inconsistent performance at Turnberry, where he followed up his opening-round 71 with a 74 to leave him five over, one short of the cut.

606: DEBATE The total contrast in weather starts to sort wheat from the chaff northwalesstaff

When asked if he had been distracted by Lyle's comments the 46-year-old replied: "Very much so, yes."

"The last six birdies I've had I've followed them with six bogeys," he added.

"You can't do that. You feel you are making one step forward only to go two steps back unfortunately."

Lyle, who quit last year's Open after 10 holes amid adverse weather conditions, had refused to blame the row with Montgomerie for his first round of 75, but he showed little improvement in his second, carding a 73.

Faldo's second round of 73 was an improvement on the 78 he shot in the first, but he still finished well short on 11 over.

With rounds of 79 and 78, 20-year-old Oliver Fisher was the lowest-placed Brit on 17 over.

Lloyd and Elliot Saltman, the first brothers in the event since Joe and Jumbo Ozaki in 1992, failed to make it through after rounds of 76 left them on 10 over and six over respectively.

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