US Open: Close by the 12th green on Pinehurst No 2 there is a grand tented structure assembled by the USGA, and over its entrance there is a sign which boldly reads: "First Aid/Comfort Zone".

The primary concern of the facility is to treat spectators suffering from dehydration, sunstroke or injuries sustained while walking through rutted trails amid the towering pine trees.

When Padraig Harrington double-bogeyed the 12th hole in his second round yesterday, he could well have done with some nurturing, for, at that point, any lingering aspirations to survive the cut in the 105th US Open finally disappeared.

The 33-year-old Dubliner went on to sign for a 74, finishing on 11-over-par 151, and suffering his third missed cut in the last four majors, dating back to last year's British Open.

"I didn't play well enough. I wasn't right on top of my game on a tough golf course," said Harrington, who will remain on in America to play in next week's Barclays Classic at Westchester in New York.

Having suffered back-to-back missed cuts - he also failed to survive into the weekend in the Booz Allen at Congressional last week - Harrington will seek to revive some confidence at Westchester before returning to Europe for the European Open at the K Club.

Most of Harrington's problems yesterday, as on Thursday, centred on a failure to hit enough greens in regulation. His statistic was identical to the first round: only six greens of 18.

He was scrambling for survival and, this time, his short game couldn't save him.

"I was trying to set myself the target of getting back to level par by 45 holes, because anyone level with nine holes to go would have a chance to win the tournament," he remarked.

He fell well short of making the target.

On the front nine, he had five birdie putts of varying lengths and didn't make any of them.

"I just wasn't seeing any birdies," commented Harrington.

Still, he opened with seven straight pars. Then, he dropped a shot on the eighth, three-putting from just off the front edge, and failed to make a birdie after hitting a massive drive down the par five 10th.

His second shot found a greenside bunker, and the recovery shot looked like settling close to the pin, only to roll into a swale from where he salvaged par.

On the 11th, he drove into the right rough which led to an almost inevitable bogey; and, then, on the 12th, he again drove into the right rough, laid up with his second shot, failed to find the green with his approach and three-putted from just off the surface for a double bogey six. Effectively, his quest to survive the cut ended there.

For Paul McGinley, it was a case of a long day dragging into night to see if he managed to survive the cut after a second round 72 left him on eight-over-par 148.

Once again, it was a story of a cold putter.

"It's ice cold," said the Dubliner after taking 31 putts despite finding a healthy 11 greens in regulation.

"I've had two bad days with the putter, but it is part of the game. I battled away and I'm learning a lot about this course. I prepared well, my game's in good shape, but a cold putter let me down.

"But I suppose any of the guys on eight-over could say they didn't putt well . . . the point I'm trying to make is that I played decent enough. My preparation was good, my execution of shots was good and I just didn't create momentum. Two birdies in 36 holes? You can't get momentum going with that."

So it was that he left the recorder's area with fingers crossed that the 10-shot rule - applicable to the US Open, with anyone within 10 shots of the midway leader surviving into the weekend - would be his salvation.

"My gut feeling is that I will make it," he said.