Que misses cut in rich Saudi golf

MANILA, Philippines — Angelo Que failed to recover from a wobbly stint despite an early start and missed the cut in the Saudi International even with half of the starting field still to complete play at presstime at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in Saudi Arabia.

For his eight-over 78 and a 36-hole total of 149 dropped him to No. 111, eight strokes behind the projected cutoff score of one-over overall for the Top 65.

Also failing to make it to the weekend play of the $5 million event was flightmate Shih Chang Chan, winner of one of the Thailand events (Blue Canyon Championship) at resumption of the Asian Tour last November, who bombed out with a 79 for joint 117th at 152.

The third player in the group, Japanese Rikuya Hoshino, however, scrambled for a 71 for a 141 as he nurtured hopes of advancing at provisional tied 64th.

Que, who had hoped to rebound from an opening 71 with an early tee off Friday, came undone with a double bogey on No. 2 and a bogey on the next. Though he birdied the seventh, he yielded another stroke on the ninth.

It was more of the same at the back, bogeying the par-5 12th then yielded two strokes on the par-3 No. 16 for a pair of 39s.

He struggled off the mound, missing eight greens, and groped with his iron play, hitting just six greens. He finished with 35 putts.

Meanwhile, Harold Varner III of the US grabbed the provisional lead with a running four-under card for 11-under overall with three holes to go at presstime, one stroke ahead of Matthew Wolff, who had an eagle-spiked five-under round, for a nine-under overall total also with three holes to play.

First round leader Matteo Manassero, who fired a solid 62 Thursday, still has to start his second round play, along with Dustin Johnson, Kim Joo Hyung and Phachara Khongwatmai, who matched 65s.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau withdrew after an opening 73 marred by a triple bogey on No. 7. The world No. 9, one of the top draws who received significant appearance fees to play, also denied being offered $135 million to become the face of the Saudi-backed Super Golf League, which will rival the PGA and DP World Tours.

Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, completed his second round stint with a 68 as he safely made it to the final 36 holes with a 136.

The other world-ranked bets, whose participation in the event had fueled controversies involving the PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), also stayed in the hunt, including Bubba Watson, four-under overall with three holes to play; Patrick Reed, four-under overall after No. 1; Xander Schauffele, who also with a four-under overall after two holes; with Henrik Stenson, who shot a 66 Thursday, still to resume his campaign at presstime.