04 December 2004	Saturday	21 Shawwal 1425

HONG KONG, Dec 3: Ryder Cup player Ian Poulter missed the cut at the Hong Kong Open after stumbling to a five-over-par 75 in the second round on Friday.

Poulter's Ryder Cup team mate David Howell took a two-shot lead over the rest of the field after six holes of the round.

Britain's Poulter known for his flamboyant trousers, looked completely out of form as he finish with a two-round total of 145. He shot an even-par 70 on the opening day.

Poulter capped off a frustrating round with a triple-bogey on the par-four 474-yard ninth hole. He had hit three bogeys earlier in the round, with the pain only being slightly eased by a rare birdie on his 15th hole.

LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES:

129 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 65-64

131 - David Howell (ENG) 65-66

133 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA) 69-64, Alessandro Tadini (ITA) 66-67, Padraig Harrington (IRL) 65-68

APPLEBY HALFWAY LEADER

SUN CITY: Australia's Stuart Appleby carded a second round 69 to move to five-under par 139 and a one-stroke lead at the Sun City Golf Challenge on Friday.

LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES:

139 - Stuart Appleby (AUS) 70 69

140 - Lee Westwood (ENG) 70 70

141 - Retief Goosen (RSA) 70 71, Nick Price (ZIM) 71 70

144 - Ernie Els (RSA) 70 74

Rookie AHEAD

SYDNEY: Rookie professional James Nitties shot a flawless second round of 65 to snatch the outright lead in the Australian PGA Championship on Friday. -Agencies