HARARE - Zimbabwean golfer Bendan de Jonge missed the cut on his British Open debut yesterday after finishing four-over par 148 after two rounds.
Although a number of golfers were still on the course at Hoylake by the time of going to press yesterday, the projected cut for the tournament was at level par.
This meant that De Jonge would not be able to play at the weekend in his first British Open after his opening rounds of 78 and 70.
The Zimbabwean had a terrible day on the first day on Thursday as he dropped shots at almost every hole in the opening round.
The PGA Tour contender did not make any birdies on his outward nine but could only pick up bogeys on holes number 2, 7 and 8.
It did not get any better for the Zimbabwean on in hi inward nine as he dropped another shot at number 11 before double bogeying the 12th.
De Jonge, who turned 34 yesterday, was able to pick up two shots at 13th and 16th but he signed for two more bogeys on the 14th and the last hole to finish the first round on six-over 78.
The Zimbabwe must have hoped for better luck on his birthday yesterday, but his second round was nothing spectacular.
To make the cut, De Jonge needed to play some extraordinary golf to get his score down under par only to finish on two-under par for the day after shooting a decent 70.
It was not all that gloomy for another birthday boy, George Coetzee of South Africa, who fired in a slew of birdies and was at one time level on six-under at the top of the leaderboard with Rory McIlroy.
The Joburg Open champion, who turned 28 yesterday, had an outstanding sequence of five birdies in 11 holes to the 15th that briefly lifted him into a share of the lead with McIlroy.
Coetzee then suffered a mini slump with bogeys at the 16th and 17th before he signed off in style with a sixth birdie of the day at the last hole securing a three-under-par 69 and a five-under tally of 139.