Golf: Seve hoist by own petard

SEVE BALLESTEROS suffered the embarrassment in Cadiz yesterday of failing to make the cut in the tournament he promoted on the course he designed.

He added a 73 to his first-round 77 for an aggregate of 150 - two shots over the cut - in the Turespana Masters over the challenging Novo Sancti Petri course.

His six-over-par score was 10 shots worse than the joint half-way leaders, Steve Richardson and the Argentinian Eduardo Romero, who lived up to their reputation of two of the tour's biggest hitters. Richardson shot a one-under-par 71 for his two-round total of 140, while Romero joined him at four under after an adventurous round in which everything came in groups of six - pars, birdies and bogeys.

The pair lead the field by one shot from Andy Oldcorn and the Swede Joakim Haeggman.

Ballesteros bogeyed three of the first six holes before birdie putts of 25 feet at the 11th and six feet at the 15th. But he left himself too much to do to make the cut.

'I just didn't play well and I didn't feel good,' he said. 'The golf course is playing difficult for those who don't play good and much easier for those who do.'

Richardson, who won twice in his rookie season in 1991, has collected 11 birdies in two rounds but he was not entirely satisfied. 'I am swinging well but keep having a couple of disasters,' he said. 'Maybe I over-attack at times and it backfires on me but I will continue to play the same way as I always do.'

Oldcorn, who finished 12th in the European Tour qualifying school last autumn after losing his card, added a three-birdie 71 to his first-round 70.

Ballesteros may have bowed out of the event, but there are plenty of big names lurking close to the top of the leaderboard.

Jose-Maria Olazabal and Bernhard Langer shot 71 and 72 respectively to be two under. But the second round proved disastrous for the first-round leader Des Smyth, who finished 12 strokes worse off than his first-round 67.

He even made the error of failing to declare a provisional ball at the 12th and ran up a triple-bogey seven.

TURESPANA MASTERS (Cadiz): Leading second-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 140 E Romero (Arg) 68 72; S Richardson 69 71. 141 A Oldcorn 70 71; J Haeggman (Swe) 69 72. 142 J-M Olazabal (Sp) 71 71; A Garrido (Sp) 70 72; B Langer (Ger) 70 72. 143 E O'Connell 71 72; G Turner (NZ) 72 71; M Sunesson (Swe) 72 71; C Moody 72 71; P Mitchell 73 70; M Martin (Sp) 68 75; O Sellberg 73 70. 144 A Gillner (Swe) 68 76; R Rafferty 72 72; T Pernice (US) 73 71; V Fernandez (Arg) 72 72; P Mayo 71 73; W Westner (SA) 71 73; D Clarke 75 69. 145 D Mijovic (Can) 71 74; P Fulke (Swe) 70 75; J Rivero (Sp) 71 74; J Payne 72 73; J Hobday 73 72; J-M Canizares (Sp) 73 72; J Rozadilla (Sp) 70 75. 146 M Besanceney (Fr) 72 74; S Little 73 73; J Parnevik (Swe) 73 73; D Smyth 67 79; O Karlsson (Swe) 74 72; S Rey (Switz) 72 74; D Williams 73 73; G Orr 70 76; D Basson (SA) 75 71; A Forsbrand (Swe) 75 71; C Rocca (It) 77 69; B Marchbank 73 73; C Montgomerie 72 74; M Jiminez (Sp) 72 74; P Way 70 76; I Palmer (SA) 69 77. 147 S Ames (Trin) 72 75; H-P Thuel (Ger) 78 69; C Cassells 74 73; I Gervas (Sp) 73 74; C McClellan (US) 76 71; A Pinero (Sp) 76 71; R Claydon 75 72; S Grappasonni (It) 75 72; 147 J van de Velde (Fr) 75 72; G Ralph 75 72; A Coltart 76 71; J Berendt (Arg) 75 72; S Torrance 74 73; R Chapman 74 73; S McAllister 74 73; R Boxall 74 73; M Lanner (Swe) 74 73. 148 G Levenson (SA) 72 76; A Lebouc (Fr) 76; 148 M Farry (Fr) 77 71; P Price 77 71; P Broadhurst 76 72; J Coceres (Arg) 73 75; P Johansson (Swe) 75 73; D Borrego (Sp) 75 73. 149 B Malley (US) 76 73; C Raulerson (US) 77 72; F Lindgren (Swe) 75 74; M Mouland 73 76; R Berhorst (Ger) 71 78; G Evans 78 71; D Ray 73 76. 150 A Hare 74 76; A Sorensen (Den) 75 75; J Rystrom (Swe) 75 75; J- M Carriles (Sp) 74 76; R Alvarez (Arg) 74 76; M Guzman (Arg) 77 73; J Robson 74 76; E Darcy 75 75; S Ballesteros (Sp) 77 73; M Gates 70 80; B Longmuir 76 74; R Winchester 74 76; A Bossert (Swit) 77 73.