Tentative steps on the road to a Ryder Cup return at Brookline came in a second-round 68 by Philip Walton in the Algarve Portuguese Open here at Penina yesterday. It brought him to 144 at the halfway stage and was crafted with a set of clubs which would lend a suitably devious touch to top-level matchplay combat.

They are irons with no numbers. Having acquired the new set of Yonex at the start of the season, he decided they needed some weight off the sole. But an overzealous technician in Dubai last month removed so much of the metal that all the numbers disappeared.

Walton and his caddie, Bryan McLauchlan, shared a hearty laugh about them after a round that contained two eagles and two birdies. "It was a good round, especially after the start I've had to the season," said the player. "I need competition to get my confidence up."

But what of the numberless clubs? "It means that Bryan gets off the hook if he hands me a wrong one," said Walton, smiling. The caddie nodded in agreement, naturally. In fact the backs are numbered in biro but, according to McLauchlan, the writing becomes obliterated when it rains.

It was a suitably quirky story for a day on which four of the five Irish challengers survived the cut. The only exception was John McHenry who has now missed all five cuts so far this season, after a second round 75 for 148. "My putting was fine but I'm still trying to adjust to a swing change," he said afterwards.

If McHenry had cause for dejection, it was nothing compared to the plight of Justin Rose, who missed his 15th successive cut since turning professional after a fourth-place finish in the British Open at Royal Birkdale last July. On this occasion, the 18-year-old was in a qualifying position with two holes to play, but typically, he finished with two bogeys when one fewer would have got him through.

"My concentration levels are not nearly good enough - in fact they're terrible," he said afterwards. "But I know I can work my way out of this." Had his Open performance become something of an albatross? "No," he replied simply. "I am very proud of what I achieved at Birkdale and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

Eamonn Darcy's second round of 70 was six strokes better than his opening 76. "As usual, it's all about putting," he said. "Yesterday I had 35; today I had 29, including nine singles."

The crucial work was done in the opening 10 holes which he covered in two under. And after visiting the water at the short 13th for a second successive day, this time for a bogey, he got the stroke back at the long 18th, where a bunker recovery was followed by a 12-foot birdie putt.

Padraig Harrington, now sporting the makings of a handsome beard, was certain he had missed the cut after shooting a 73 for 147, three over par. But for once, the qualified accountant got his calculations wrong.

He chipped from off the left of the long 18th to four feet and sank the putt for a closing birdie. "I was trying to hole the chip - I thought I had to," he said. Either way, Harrington landed himself in this pickle by carding double-bogey, bogey at the 12th and 13th to wreck a potentially solid round.

The first problem resulted from a drive behind a tree, followed later by three putts. And he pushed a two-iron into water at the short 13th. Which made his eventual survival all the more welcome.