PGA CHAMPIONSHIP: The cut-line, set eventually at level par, irresistibly lured one Irishman after another during yesterday's Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth. It offered compelling drama, not least for David Higgins. Having started the day at one over par, he knew he might need to go a couple of shots lower to make the weekend.

Eking out an existence on a staple diet of PGA Irish Region tournaments, supplemented by occasional Challenge Tour events, magnifies the importance of making the most of opportunities like the Volvo PGA Championship.

The momentum of an opening hole birdie was quickly engulfed by a double bogey on the third. It provided a snapshot of the manner in which his round would unfold; birdies and bogeys, satisfaction and disappointment.

The Waterville golfer was two over par standing on the 16th tee, coming off a bogey but he refused to buckle. Birdies at the 16th and 17th holes took him to the cusp of making the cut but there was one more examination. Having hit three shots to the par five 18th, his ball rested on the apron 45 feet from the pin.

When he wielded the putter a second time it was from seven feet on the far side of the hole, a slick downhill putt and definitely not one you'd wish to retain tournament status. Bottle, character, nerve; Higgins demonstrated it as he calmly rolled the ball in.

"I'd been having trouble with long putts all day, either hitting them too hard or leaving them short. It'd too rude to tell you what I was thinking after the first one. I knew I hit it too hard but you have to just get on with it.

"I'm playing well from tee to green but I'm not used to playing on these greens in terms of their pace and quality.

"Still I putted much better than I did the first day. I'm playing well enough to go well over the weekend."

Graeme McDowell, who's still struggling to rise above the mundane in scoring terms, joined him on the precipice. Yesterday during a one-over-par 73 he briefly threatened to climb marginally up the leaderboard only to suffer a couple of bogeys on the journey home.

Peter Lawrie endured a frustrating afternoon, eventually shooting a one-over-par 73 to make the weekend on the two-under mark: he broke a run of three missed cuts and can now concentrate on trying to earn a decent cheque.

There was no such respite for Paul McGinley who slipped to a 74 and that despite birdies at the 17th and 18th, missing the cut by one shot. He'll once again go for extensive physiotherapy on his knee before heading for the Welsh Open at Celtic Manor, a tournament he won three years ago following a play-off.

Gary Murphy couldn't quite repair the damage of two over regulation figures on the outward journey, improving by three shots on the second nine but a second successive 73 wouldn't suffice.

Damien Mooney fought the good fight but he, too, was undone on his journey, eventually finishing on three over par for the tournament.